My heart would know you anywhere
by KHighness
Summary: Memory or no memory, Samantha Morgan was the love of his life and Jason Morgan's heart would know her anywhere.
1. Chapter 1

Jason Morgan was a simple man. Some would say he was complicated, but no, he liked things simple. A simple life - one with a wife and children that he loved and who loved him - simple. A simple home - a place where his family felt safe and nurtured - simple. Friends he could count on for a good laugh and a good time - just simple. So why was everything just so fucking complicated?

One year ago when he'd woken from a coma, he had no family, no friends, no life that he could remember. Hell, he had no name, for that matter. No one was looking for him…he was alone. Then the beautiful, angelic creature who had spent almost every day caring for him and helping him to regain his strength, fell in love with him to boot. She was a simple, gentle soul and he couldn't be luckier - almost instantly he had a family with her and her two boys, he had a home where she invited him to live with them, and he had love. Pure, unpolluted, sincere, simple, love. Elizabeth Webber was a dream come true that he didn't even know that he had, until she loved him. He had it all, and because of that, he wanted Elizabeth to have even more. So he had asked her to marry him, to make their little family complete, legitimate. Only problem was, he didn't want his unknown past to come back to haunt them later. He needed to find out who he was so that he could keep everything simple for the woman he loved so much. And then, the complications came.

Complication number one was spitfire, firecracker Samantha Morgan herself, the oh, so hot half of PI firm _McCall and Jackal_. All impressive five foot, two inches of dynamo on heels, Port Charles' baddest bitch. Almost immediately he'd felt drawn to Sam. Inexplicably drawn to both her and the handsome little tyke she was always chasing around after. That day when he met Sam and Danny Morgan in the hallway of General Hospital, he felt like he had known them forever, but he knew that was impossible, since his jumbled brain proved that he knew no one. When she'd come around the corner chasing the little blonde devil who'd made a mad dash away from her and latched himself unto Jason's leg, his breath caught in his throat at how gorgeous a picture they made. Her raven tresses were flying about her face as she chased Danny, softly reprimanding her son not to run away from her like that. As Elizabeth introduced them to each other, he felt as though he needed no introduction whatsoever to the ravishing creature, like he'd known her forever.

Over the next few days he'd quickly found out that he didn't stand a chance. As luck would have it, she was already somebody else's girl. And not just any somebody, but the young, good looking chick magnet to whom he owed his life. How could he go after the good doc's girl, when the doc had performed a miracle on his tortured brain? He'd been pretty much near death until Patrick Drake stepped in, with his miracle hands. Sure, Sam was worth fighting duels over, but nevertheless, he'd taken his disappointment like a man and paid more attention to his own personal angel of mercy. Elizabeth Webber was no consolation prize afterall, she was a queen among women and she'd chosen him. He had nothing to offer her, no money, no history, nothing but his simple future they could build together.

Then, as if things weren't already complicated enough, his waking dreams of Sam began to sneak into his nights too. Most times he'd forgotten the dream the minute he'd woken up, other times he'd dismissed them as just his brain playing tricks on him. In his dreams, awake and asleep, she'd be riding with him on the back of a bike, or riding him in bed, or laughing gleefully at some private joke between them. He'd seemed unable to shake her from his thoughts, despite the fact that he was happy and building a future with Elizabeth. He'd moved in with Elizabeth and her boys and she'd always told him to take his dreams at face value, that he wanted to remember so hard that his mind was making stuff up to satisfy his urge to know his identity. He'd been living his dream come true, until she'd started keeping things from him, acting on edge all the time, and getting clingy and insecure when it came to Sam and Danny. Jason had noticed that his _simple_ started to fade fast away.

Add even more complications to boot, Elizabeth's great friend "Prince Dickolas" was one of the most snobby, entitled, condescending pricks he'd ever known (granted, he had no idea how many pricks he actually knew). Those two were always huddled together, meeting all the time, and it started to make Jason uncomfortable. He'd tried to convince himself that the two had been friends for many years, and not wanting to appear jealous or controlling, he'd decided to leave them alone and just trust his lady love. He would never trust Prince Dickolas, but he trusted Elizabeth with everything in him. How could he not, she was an angel.

Then, today, simple just went up in smoke. It being a cool Autumn day, Jason decided to take his soon to be stepsons to the park after school. They had a good afternoon together, then headed home to make dinner before Elizabeth got off work. The boys were upstairs doing homework, the pasta sauce was on low in the kitchen and Jason was sitting on the couch scrolling through the TV channels, when something caught his eye. He stopped on the travel channel where there was a segment on Hawaii that had him riveted suddenly. He started thinking how beautiful it was and that it would be the perfect place to take his wife for their honeymoon, when instantly, he was assailed by what seemed like memories of a little beachfront cottage. All at once, he was hit with the scent of ginger and fresh air, he could clearly hear the sea rolling up against the shore, and he could see the bluest of skies with not a cloud in sight. He was strolling along that shore, when suddenly she laughed at him lightly tickling her side. Her laugh was like music to his ears as he looked down at the compelling, raven haired beauty strolling under his arm. She was looking up at him with so much love in her gorgeous brown eyes that it took his breath away, for the millionth time. He had never felt so much love as he felt for his wife, Samantha Morgan. She was everything to him, and as he was often powerless to resist her, he turned her in his arms and claimed her lips in a searing, crushing kiss.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason dropped the remote and instantly jumped up from the couch. What the fuck was that? After a moment he started pacing, shaking his head as if to clear it, but then memory after memory came flooding back like a broken dam. Almost instantly, he fell back unto the couch, gripping his head in pain. Memory after memory, of people he'd met after he woke up from the coma, people he'd had no idea that he knew. Suddenly he was on a bridge with Robin Scorpio-Drake, holding hands, getting ready to jump, but then they didn't at the last minute. Then he was on that same bridge again, tearfully saying goodbye to Robin because she betrayed him and he never wanted to see her again. There were suddenly memories of Sonny Corinthos, his best friend and brother, who accepted him and taught him that he had to be smarter than his enemies; there were memories of his sweet Elizabeth, where he was teaching her to play pool, when she'd found him shot, near death, and she'd helped him, where they were spending time together admiring art and light; then Carly was there, at Jake's bar, in a room above Jake's bar, at the police station, wet and crying, lying to AJ and Tony, lying to everyone; Then he was holding baby Michael, feeling so much love and protectiveness for him, promising to always be there for him and his mom.

Jason couldn't stop the memories from coming. He held his head in both hands, bending towards his knees, trying to guard against the crushing pain, and more memories hit.

He could see the Quartermaines, fighting, trying to control him, trying to tell him what to do, who to be friends with. He had to get away from them, from the pressure, from the disappointment in their eyes, from the constant bickering. Except for his sweet, loving grandmother and little sister. With them he saw the laughs, the talks, the love, the acceptance…the funerals. Then he saw Sam. He saw her fire, her fight, her passion, the hurt; he saw the excruciating pain of losing her baby girl, their baby girl; He saw the love, the devotion, the loyalty, the truth. He saw her crying, laughing, teasing, making love to him. He saw their wedding, the night at the cabin, their honeymoon in Hawaii, her pregnancy, their separation, on the hospital rooftop with Danny and crazy Heather Webber, rescuing Danny and taking him home to the penthouse; He saw the docks, Bernie lying hurt on the ground, hearing the gunshot, feeling the crashing pain in his back, waking up in a tube, rescuing Robin and driving to Port Charles, getting away from Helena's goons only to get hit by that car; Waking up in the hospital with no memory.

It all came crashing back as he sat there, powerless against the pain and the agony. Then after what seemed like an eternity, he could breathe again as the pain subsided. His vision cleared and the throbbing in his head eased to a light ache. He sat there, in a complete state of shock. He was Jason Morgan. He had a wife, he had children, he had family and friends, he had a life. He had money, a past, an existence that was no longer a mystery. He rose slowly from the couch and walked over to the mantle where he stared at his reflection in the mirror above. This was not his face. No wonder his loved ones didn't know him, he wouldn't have recognized himself either. He had lived among them for a year and no one knew he was there. Then he remembered Spinelli's reaction when he met Jake Doe for the first time in the hospital. Spinelli had seen him from behind and came up running, hugging him, calling him Stone Cold. Spinelli had known him, but when he saw the face, he'd retracted and apologized. He remembered his family making comparisons to Jake Doe and Jason Morgan, not knowing they were one and the same. How could they know? Robin had told him on the ride back to Port Charles that everyone thought he was dead. They could't have possibly known.

There was the sound of a car pulling in to the driveway, announcing that Elizabeth was home. Elizabeth. He had built a new life with Elizabeth. He suddenly realized why he had felt so comfortable with her and why she's always seemed so familiar. From the first time that they'd made love, he'd felt a familiarity being with her. Now, he realized, that's because it wasn't the first time afterall. Jason looked at the house around him now. Elizabeth's home. He had made it his home now too. But it wasn't really his home, he had a home, and a wife, and a son. Oh, God, Danny! Danny was really his son! And Jake! Jake had come back from the dead…his son was alive!

Just then, the front door opened and Elizabeth walked in, smiling the moment she saw him. "Jake."

He just stared at her as she came closer. She was beautiful, even in scrubs, after a long hospital shift, his nurse managed to still look beautiful. As she stopped in front of him, he found his voice. "Hey." She kissed him lightly, then asked, "where are the boys?"

He was staring at her. She had no idea she was looking at the man she'd known for so long, a man she'd wanted to have all of this with. Her wish had come true and she didn't even know it. Jason realized that she was staring at him expectantly. Oh, shit, that's right, she'd asked him a question. "Homework."

She nodded her head knowingly as she moved to set her purse on the table behind the sofa. "Something smells wonderful. You spoil me, you know that? Let me go say hi to the boys, I'll be right back."

Jason watched her go up the stairs and a sadness came over him. How would she take knowing he was Jason Morgan? Of course she'd be happy he was alive, they'd been friends for years and she's always wanted well for him. But he was married, he had a family. He turned to look in the mirror again, noticing the picture of him and Elizabeth right beneath it. That picture was of his old face, the one he'd had all his life, the one his family and friends knew. Right next to it was a picture of him with his new face, hugging Elizabeth with the boys sitting in front of them. His new family. Suddenly, he needed to sit down again. As he sank into the couch, he heard Elizabeth and the boys heading down the stairs. "Jake, is dinner ready? I'm starved."

Jason looked over to Jake, waiting for him to answer, until he realized, _he_ was Jake. Cameron was addressing him, not his brother. "Yeah, we were just waiting for your mom. Let's eat." He was going to have to get used to being addressed by that name.

As they piled into the kitchen, Jason couldn't help but stare at Jake. Even though he had been present for the shock of seeing Elizabeth's son back from the dead months before, he felt a new kind of shock. Now that he could remember going through the grief and the pain of losing Jake, it was as if seeing his son for the first time, and he couldn't be happier that he was alive. Although Jake didn't know him as his father before he'd died, he had missed his son so much. Had ached to have him back, and now here he was. They all sat at the table as Elizabeth set the food in front of them. Jason knew that he should be serving but it was as if he was in a trance, moving in slow motion. He just could not get out of his head. How was he going to tell them? How would they take the news? He was married, this was not his home, but he loved them. He wanted to make them happy. He looked up to see them all looking at him. "What?"

"I said, would you like more parmesan?" Elizabeth was holding the cheese in his direction.

"No, thank you, I'm fine."

She was looking at him curiously now. "Are you okay, Jake?"

"Yeah, it's just been a long day."

The boys started slurping noodles and talking over each other, so she dropped the questions, but continued to look at him warily. He knew there'd be more questions later.

Jason realized suddenly that he needed to see Sam. He couldn't wait another minute, he had to see Sam and Danny. Standing up from the table, he looked at Elizabeth apologetically. "I'm sorry but I just remembered something I have to do right away. I'll be back as soon as I can." He headed out the kitchen even though she was calling his name. As he grabbed his jacket and moved to the front door, she came running in from the kitchen. "Jake, what's wrong? Why are you acting so strangely?"

He turned to face her. "Nothing's wrong. I just need to run a quick errand. I'll be right back." He headed to the door, pulling his keys from his pocket as he went. He didn't turn to look back at her. If he had, he might have noticed the panicked look she gave him. He might have noticed how scared she appeared to be. But he didn't look back, he had to get to Sam. He thought about trying her office, but she didn't spend much time there anymore, not since Spinelli had moved to Portland with Ellie and Georgie. Not since she had gotten engaged to Patrick Drake. Oh, God, he thought. His wife was engaged to another man, and she had moved their son into his home. That home wasn't far from where Elizabeth lived, so Jason decided to try there first.


	3. Chapter 3

As he pulled up to the house he noticed that he didn't see her car. Good, he thought. He didn't relish the thought of seeing her there again, happy, making house with another man. He rang the doorbell anyway, just to check. As no answer came, he had more memories of ringing that doorbell, when Robin lived there. He and Robin had buried the hatchet and had become very good friends again. She had even saved his life countless times over the years, and he had been there for her through her bout with Postpartum Depression. He remembered Patrick saying that Robin had moved to Paris. He realized now that that didn't sound right. Robin couldn't wait to get back to her daughter. He didn't see her leaving Emma again to move across the world. He would be checking into that, but first, he had to find Sam. He _needed_ to find her, now. He took his cell from his pocket and dialed her number.

"Jake. Hey, what's up?" She answered on the second ring.

"Hey, Sam. You busy? Where are you right now?"

"I'm at the penthouse visiting my mom. What's going on?"

"Would you mind if I stopped by? There's something I'd like to run by you."

He waited with bated breath for her to say yes. "Sure, I'll be here."

As he drove, he thought of what he would say to her. He couldn't just blurt out, 'hey honey, I'm home. I know you thought I was dead, but look, I'm not.' He didn't know what he would say to her but he knew he _had_ to see her. Couldn't go one more moment without seeing her.

As he rode the elevator to the top floor he noticed how sweaty his palms had become. The anxiety was becoming unbearable, the need to lay eyes on his family overwhelming now. _His family_. Just a few hours before his family was completely different. He couldn't believe what a mess everything was. He stopped in front of the door and felt himself shaking with anticipation. He tried to picture her reaction to his news but his previous accident had left him unable to Imagine. He had the feeling of coming home, yet he also felt like a stranger. Just then the door swung open and Sam was standing in front of him. She looked the same as she did when he'd seen earlier that day, yet she seemed even more beautiful than he remembered. Her long dark hair was pulled into a ponytail away from her face and as she grinned up at him now, he felt the breath knocked out of him.

"Hey, you. I thought I heard the elevator…why are you just standing out here? C'mon, get in here."

He moved past her into the room, looking around him as if for the first time. He was surprised to notice that not much had changed since he last lived there. Much of the furniture was still the same, but there were some obvious changes to the artwork and photos around the room. "Jaake." He turned at the sound of his name to see his son barreling toward him from the kitchen, not hesitating to hurl himself into his arms. Jason caught Danny and held him snugly to his chest, breathing in deep, as he smelled his hair, savoring the feel of his son in his arms. He had held Danny many times before, but this time was different. Danny was his, flesh and blood his, from his soft, sweet smelling blonde hair to his ten tiny fingers, to his adorable little feet. Jason felt so much love for Danny in that moment that he thought his heart would burst. He couldn't believe how big he'd gotten from the little baby he's brought home that fateful night. Until the day he died Jason would regret leaving Sam and Danny that night. Bernie had needed him, but he now realized that Sam and Danny had needed him too, and he had let them down, _again_. Danny laid his head on Jason's shoulder and stretched his little arms as far around his neck as he could get them. He was always happy to see Jake, but he had no idea how moved Jason was to hold him in that moment. He was holding his son in his arms and he never wanted to let him go again.

Sam looked curiously at the duo, noting how Jake was clinging to Danny as though he hadn't seen him in forever, and how comfortable Danny was in Jake's arms, and she couldn't help but smile at the picture they made. "Hey buddy. You're happy to see your friend, Jake, aren't you?" Sam rubbed her son's back soothingly as she spoke. "He's a little bit under the weather today," she said to her friend.

Jason slowly rocked Danny from side to side as he spoke softly to him, "I'm sorry you're not feeling well buddy. It sucks, I know." He felt Danny nod his head without lifting it off Jason's shoulder, and his heart went out to his son. "Don't worry, you'll feel better soon." Jason spent several minutes just rocking Danny back and forth, rubbing his back, and talking to him softly. As Sam moved to take Danny from him, Jason asked, "may I?" He wanted very much to tuck his sleeping son in for the first time.

Thirty minutes later Danny was safely tucked into bed, Sam had taken his temperature, and she and Jason were back down in the living room. Alexis had left before he got there, mercifully, and he was alone with Sam. Finally. "So…" Sam broke the silence. "What did you want to see me about?"

His mind couldn't move fast enough to form an excuse that she would buy. He wanted more than anything to tell her the truth, to let his wife know that he was there, he was alive, and home. But how could he, when he had complicated their lives by falling in love with someone else? When his wife had fallen in love with another man, had made another life for herself? How could he rip his son's happiness apart again, when he really had nothing to offer them now? No, he couldn't tell her, not yet. Trouble was, he wanted more than anything to hold her then. He yearned to feel her heart beat in sync with his, and taste her sweet, sweet lips once again. He found himself looking at those lips now. They had always been the most luscious, kissable, things in the world to him. So very soft and pliable, welcoming and warm to his tongue. In that moment, he wanted to kiss her more than he'd ever wanted anything in the world.

Sam was looking at him with concern in her beautiful brown eyes. Of, course she didn't understand, and unfortunately he couldn't share it, not yet. Not before he figured out what to do, how to soften the blow. Sam was happy with Patrick Drake. He'd seen them together for months now, and they were a family. His son was happy, safe, and loved, which is what he'd wanted for him since before he was conceived, since he was only a conversation between him and Sam, a dream they both held dearest to their hearts. He couldn't rip his son's world apart when he'd made promises elsewhere. It wasn't fair to them to upset their lives for his selfish desires.

Jason realized suddenly that he had been standing in the middle of Sam's living room, not saying a word, and she was starting to grow concerned. "I'm sorry, Sam, I didn't mean to make it as cloak and dagger as it sounded. I just wanted to check in with you, to see if you found anything new about my identity." The lie sounded weak to his ears.

Sam couldn't help but be skeptical as she looked at her friend. "No, we haven't come up with anything yet. Are you sure you're okay? There isn't something else bothering you?" Sam had always been able to read him like a book.

"I'm fine, I promise. I needed to get some fresh air and figured why not check in with you at the same time?"

"I know how frustrated this is and how anxious you are to find out who you are before you marry Elizabeth, but don't worry, Spinelli is a genius and if anybody can find out who you are, Spinelli can."

He smiled that time. "You've always had such faith in Spinelli, and he would do anything for you."

"You're not telling me something." She had felt something off since the minute he got there. His stares had somewhat unnerved her, and she wondered now what he wasn't saying. She hadn't missed how he held her son either, as though he was afraid of him slipping away. "You can talk to me you know?"

"I've always been able to talk to you, Might Mouse." The tenderness in his voice threw her, and she started to wonder about it, looking at him more intently now. He was looking at her with… _love_? "Jake, what's going on? Whats wrong?" she asked again. Then her eyes opened really wide and she took a quick step towards him. "Wait, what did you just call me?"

Jason couldn't help himself now, he had to touch her. As his hand reached out to brush her cheek with the back of his fingers, he smiled down at her and looked deep into those brown orbs that he had missed so much. "Hi, _Mighty Mouse_." Sam didn't know what to think. Someone had called her that once. He was the only one who'd ever called her that and the way Jake said it now, with the look in his eyes, his sea blue eyes that looked exactly like _his_ eyes. There was so much about Jake that reminded her of _him_ , and now, with him looking at her like that and calling her that, and touching her face like that, like how _he'd_ touched her so, so many times….Sam thought about him and wished for the millionth time that it was he standing before her. That he had never left her. That she could have him back, that her son could have him back. She knew he was gone. After three years she had finally, finally accepted that her soulmate, the love of her life, her one true partner in every sense, was gone for good. The pain was still almost unbearable some days, his birthday, their anniversary, Danny's birthday, were all days that the pain was so acute that it threatened to consume her. She still missed him everyday, still saw him in their son's blonde hair, his blue eyes, his daredevil spirit, and his quiet demeanor - all wonderful and painful reminders of her love. Sam didn't think there would ever come a day when she wouldn't miss him. Miss his smile that danced in his blue, blue eyes, miss his strong, quiet way of loving her so intensely, miss his strong arms that often carried her so effortlessly and gave her a safety she's known with no other. Miss the way he'd stroke her face with such tenderness and devotion…just like Jake did now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Sam didn't know what to think. For a few treasured moments she was transported to that sweet world where he had never left and they were suspended together in their impenetrable bubble where they had spent so many hours lost in their once in a lifetime love. She had felt nothing like it before and nothing like it since, and every fiber of her being still longed for him, yearned for his touch, craved his presence. The fingers on her face now, took her back to a place where only he touched her this way, his love transferring from his soft caress of her skin through her pores to the recesses of her heart that beat solely for him. Oh, how she'd loved him and how he'd loved her too. She moved her face against his fingers, languishing in the feel against her cheek, wishing it to never end.

Jason closed his eyes and rested his forehead to Sam's and inhaled slowly. She was right here, Sam, his Sam, his soulmate, his wife, his life. How had his heart not known her instantly? How had he not seen himself everytime he looked in her eyes? It was then, in that ethereal instant, with his eyes closed and his senses centered on her, it was then that his relaxed mind sent him deep within his subconscious where the beeping of machines echoed in the background of his heart beating out of his chest. His heart had recognized a sound, a sound so melodious and unlike any other, a sound that his homesick soul had played over in his mind but now he was hearing the sweet sound coming from far, far away. The softest touch upon his hand lithely soothed every ache covering his accident wrecked body, and he wanted desperately to awaken to its sweet beckon. Jason opened his eyes now, realizing that he _had_ known her, that his heart had recognized her instantly, that she was the reason his unconscious body was able to fight back from the brim of death, the sweet sound of her voice and the softest brush of her touch, had brought him back to the love of his life. He knew now that he'd always been drawn to her. He knew now why he could never explain the feeling he'd always had like he'd known her forever…it was because his heart would know her anywhere.

"Momma, I don't feel good."

Sam pulled away from Jake at the sound of her baby's voice. Danny was standing on the bottom stair looking so miserable her heart hurt at the sight of him. "What's the matter little man? Where does it hurt?" Sam reached for her baby and swung him up into her arms, cradling his little blond head to her chest and rocking him in place.

"Wanna throw up momma." Sam stopped rocking and immediately turned towards the downstairs bathroom, feeling her son's forehead as she went. He was warm to her touch and instantly her worry was magnified. Ever since his bout with Leukemia, every little cold, or rash, or fever had taken them to the emergency room. She would head there now, as soon as she took care of his immediate need to throw up. Sam wet a washcloth and placed it against her son's forehead then took the thermometer with them back to the living room where she sat on the couch with her baby on her lap.

Jason had been pacing restlessly, waiting for them to come back from the bathroom and as Sam took Danny's temperature through his ear he saw how terrified she looked. He understood a mother's worry for her child but Sam seemed overly scared for Danny. "Is he going to be okay, Sam? What can I do?" He reached over and softly soothed Danny's hair.

"I don't know, I need to get him to the hospital right away. He's been under the weather all day, I was hoping that it would be gone by now but he's feeling worse." She was reaching for the phone.

"Come on, I'll take you." Jason was already lifting his son from her arms.

"I need to call Patrick and let him know."

The sound of the man's name did not sit well with Jason. In that instant he didn't care that Patrick had been playing a father's role in his son's life, he was back now and he would take care of his family. "You can call him from the hospital." He headed to the door, indicating she should follow.

Patrick was waiting when they got to GH, Sam had called him on the drive over and he was closeby. He reached to take Danny from Jason, who sidestepped him, clinging to his son closely. "I've got him," Jason said, just as Danny's Pediatrician walked over to the group. Sam told him what Danny's symptoms were, then turned to rub her son's back lovingly, noticing that he slept peacefully on Jake's shoulder like he belonged there. She realized that she knew how he felt, having felt the same way under his touch just earlier herself.

"Follow me," said the Pediatrician, turning towards the exam room. "Let's take a look and see what's going on."

Patrick tried again to take Danny from Jason, who again brushed him off and moved to follow the doctor. Sam didn't know what was happening between the two men but she was too worried about her baby to care. She really didn't know what to make of what had happened back at the penthouse between her and Jake and later she would need to give it some serious thought, but for now her only concern was Danny. She took him from Jason's arms saying she needed to hold him while he was being examined, and Jason let her, his gaze following them longingly as they disappeared into the exam room.

"What do you think you're doing? Why were you even at the penthouse tonight anyway?" Patrick Drake sounded resentful as he addressed Jake Doe, who was moving to follow Sam and Danny.

Jason wasn't even listening, he was concerned about his son because Sam seemed so very worried. Childhood illnesses come as no surprise to a parent, so for her to be that worried made him think that something else could be going on. His anxiety had been compounded when she insisted on calling Drake from the car, telling him she needed his support when she got there. Sam wasn't the needy type, and he was there with her, so when she called for reinforcements it made Jason worry more.

"Jake, why are you at the hospital? Is something wrong?" Elizabeth was coming on duty and she was surprised to find him there. He hadn't answered a single one of her calls or messages since he left the house earlier.

"I'm fine, Danny's here…Sam needed to bring him in."

"Sam? Why were you with Sam?"

He looked at her keenly, not missing the fear that seemed to creep into her tone, and his back flexed at her question. He wanted to tell her he wouldn't be any place else at that moment.

"I'm curious to know the answer to that myself," Drake spoke up again. Jason wanted to ignore the man but he couldn't be rude to Elizabeth. "Sam is helping me to find out who I am." He noticed how she blanched and he continued to assure her. "I know that I told you I'd give up the search but couldn't. I needed to know before we got married, I needed to be sure that there wasn't something about my past that was going to come back and hurt you and the boys."

"I wish you hadn't kept that from me, Jake. I told you, I don't care who you were before, what we have now is everything I'll ever need."

He didn't want to talk about it with her, didn't want to talk about anything while he worried for his son. "What are you doing here anyway, didn't you already work a full shift today?"

"They're short staffed tonight so they called me in for another shift. I tried to call you to see when you'd be home but you didn't answer your phone. The boys are with the sitter - were you with Sam this whole time?"

He saw Drake's head shoot up at the question and watched as they both waited to hear his answer, but Jason had stopped entertaining them.

He looked from them over to where his family had gone minutes before and he needed to know what was happening. "What's taking so long?" He started towards the nurses station where he'd inquire but Elizabeth piped up, "is someone ill?"

Patrick informed her about Danny's fever being why they were all there and she looked to Jason curiously, not missing now how very concerned he was. It was as if he knew, she thought, but of course he didn't know, how could he possibly?

Jason headed to the room where Sam and Danny had not reappeared from and even though he was not supposed to be family, he just had to check on them and could not wait any longer. Sam was sitting by the bed, softly stroking her son's hair, silently watching as he slept. The doctor had left but a nurse was noting a chart when Jason entered. "Sam?"

"Jake. Come in." She was happy to see him. "They're running some tests and we'll know shortly if everything's okay."

Jason looked from his brave little boy to his strong wife and he wanted to take all the fear and the pain away. "He'll be fine, Sam." He tried to reassure her, but she looked at him with a pain he didn't immediately understand.

Sam didn't like to talk much about what her son went through as it had been the scariest thing she'd ever faced, watching her little boy fight for his life, and so soon after she had lost his father so tragically, had almost broken her. She prayed that this was not a repeat of what they went through. She kissed her baby's hand before she said, "Danny had Leukemia, Jake." Her voice was so low that he almost missed hearing the loaded words. "It was a few years ago and he's been in remission since, but every time he gets sick I immediately rush him to the doctor. I'm terrified that my baby will have to go through that again."

Jason's heart stopped and his ears clogged as he stared at his sweet baby boy. "Danny had cancer?" The pain in his voice threw Sam but then she remembered what a good friend he'd been and how he had bonded with her son. "Do they think it's back?"

"They don't know yet, but it's a possibility." Sam went on to relay to Jason the events that surrounded Danny's transplant and how her father turned out to be a match. After hearing what an ordeal the search had been, Jason decided he would get tested right away to find out if he was also a match for his son. Just in case.

He went in search of the doctor to arrange testing, just as Patrick Drake was headed to the exam room. Jason put aside his fury for the time being while he went about saving his little boy. Soon enough his wife and son would not need anyone else to run to their rescue…daddy was home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Jason roved through the halls of the hospital looking for Danny's doctor. The sooner he could get tested as a match for his son, the sooner he could get back to his family. He spotted the man turning the corner and veered in the same direction, eager to catch up to him. When he caught up to and turned that corner he saw two doors, one led to a breakroom and the other door went to the roof. Deciding that the breakroom was the more likely bet, Jason pushed in that door and entered what turned out to be an empty breakroom. He reasoned that the doc must have gone up to the roof for a quick breather, so he started to turn around when he heard a very familiar voice coming from an adjoining room to his right.

He noticed the sign that said _Medical Personnel Only_ , almost at the same time that he recognized the voice as that of his fiancé. Not wanting to run into her and be hindered with mindless babble when he had something so extremely important to do, he quickened his pace trying to head out, only to stop short when he heard his name, his _real_ name. " _Something's up with Jason. He's been acting strange all evening, running out of the house and not taking my calls, I think he figured out who he is_." Instinctively, Jason edged closer to the door so he could hear more clearly. It sounded like she was on the phone since there was no audible response and a short silence later she added, " _I don't know Nicholas, but something's off with him, I know Jason, and he's acting very strange tonight_." She knew? Elizabeth knew who he really was? But how could she know? She was talking again, " _Do you think Sam could've found out and told him? He's been spending a lot of time around her, he's even here with her right now_." The shock hit Jason like a runaway train, blurring his senses and shortening his breath in its intensity. How long had she known his identity? Why had she not told him? " _I knew that bitch would be trouble the moment she found out Jake was really Jason, I knew I was right not to tell any of them about him_." The hatred in her tone and in her statement left Jason even more flabbergasted. Elizabeth knew who he was, had known for some time and had deliberately deceived everyone. She had deliberately deceived _him_! The sense of unreal that he felt in that instant was so enormous that it staggered him, sending him backwards from the door, his right hand raised as if being sworn in. Was this for real, or was he stuck in some horrible, unimaginable dream? There was no way that she knew who he was, had known for…how long, he wondered? How long had his life been a game for his fiancé and her prince? As if on cue, her next words provided his answer, " _I knew it, I knew I should have told him from the start! From the very first night at the Nurses Ball, I knew I should've come clean and just told him who he was, DAMMIT_!" Her yell was surprising, frustration evident in that last word. Was she frustrated at herself or at the current situation? He found out it was neither. " _I knew your skanky bitch of a cousin wouldn't leave us alone. I knew she would just keep meddling with Jason and me like she always did before_."

Jason couldn't listen anymore. He couldn't hear about her lies anymore. He turned and rushed out the door, shoving it open so hard that it banged back into the wall in protest as he ran out of that torturous room and headed for the door leading to the stairs. The fresh air stung his face instantly as he stepped onto the roof, and as he took deep, gasping breaths it helped to calm his rushing blood and racing mind. Jason walked over to the ledge and braced his hands against it to steady his shaking body, as he continued to take deep, calming breaths of fresh air.

Only a few hours before, he had found out who he was, had remembered his life and had been so completely devastated when he realized he loved two women. He'd known instantly where his heart really laid, and had known he would be hurting his fiancé because he would have to go back to his wife, his heart and soul demanded it. The immense guilt he had been feeling since, knowing that he would be hurting Elizabeth, had been for nothing…she knew all along and kept it from him.

As his breathing calmed and his heart slowed to it's almost normal pace again, Jason thought back to the Nurses's Ball. That had been months and months ago, way back in the Spring! He remembered that Carly had outed Hayden for pretending to be his wife, and Ric for paying her to do it. Elizabeth had been so livid and angry at Ric, cursing his lies and his games, denouncing his claims that he had done it all for love and for her. She wanted no part of it and she dismissed his feelings, telling him he didn't know what love was. Jason thought back to walking into the ballroom and seeing her on that stage, a vision in pink, so hurt and lost, and his heart had gone out to her. He had been falling in love with her before Hayden and Ric started playing their sick games with their lives, and as he looked at her that night, their eyes had locked and she came to him. She took his hand and led him home, where she made love to him and proclaimed her feelings. He had been so happy then…after weeks of being manipulated and used, the woman Jake Doe had really wanted in the first place wanted him too, accepted him finally, and was open to planning a future together. He had felt so accepted and so very loved that night…but it all been another lie. She had known then that he was Sam's husband and Danny's father, and she hadn't cared.

Jason took several steps backward from the ledge, his fists clenching, needing to hit, as the blinding anger rose in him again. When there was nothing in front of him to punch through he punched at the air, anguished punch after anguished punch through thin air, the anger blinding him, sending a throbbing pain through his head. They had known for months and had kept him and his entire family in the dark. His wife had been left to mourn him still, his son had been left without a father to guide and teach him, to be there when he got sick or hurt or scared, his family was kept in the dark. Why, what reason did they have to play with his life in this way? What motives had propelled them to use him so callously? Why, when he had trusted and loved her, had wanted to share a family with her? How could they have lied like that?

"Mr. Doe, are you alright?"

Jason's fists had come down to his sides again, and as the concerned voice registered through the haze, he turned to realize that Danny's doctor had been on the opposite end of the roof, his quick break interrupted by Jason's appearance. Danny! His little boy needed him! To hell with everything else right now. Jason calmed even more at the thought of his son, and instantly he remembered his mission.

"Yes, I'm fine. I was looking for you, actually." His voice was shaky and thorned.

"Me?" The doctor was a little concerned as he stepped warily back from the man who had just been punching the living daylights out of nothing. Was he the intended target?

"Yes, it's about Daniel Morgan."

"What about him, did Danny get worse?"

"No, no, I have a favor to ask, that's all."

The doctor's concern was reprieved. "Really? What could that be?"

Jason took a deep calming breath, realizing that he'd need all his wits about him from this moment on…his son's life could depend on it. "I need you to test me to see if I'm a match for my s…for Danny."

The doctor's eyebrow raised curiously, but he didn't pursue the discernible slip. Discretion was his profession after all. "Yes, of course! Have you ever been tested before?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Okay, I need to get your complete medical history and ask you a series of questions." They were making their way back into the hospital. "Have you been a patient here at GH in the past?"

Jason's short laugh was dry, "yeah, I've been admitted a time or twenty."

 _***Later that night and into the early hours of the next morning***_

Sam laid next to her baby and stroked his hair as he slept curled up into her. She had not been able to close her eyes for a minute, worry over his cancer returning at the forefront of her mind. As she looked at her little boy, his breathing a bit shallow in his tiny chest, she wished that she could take the pain away and feel it herself for him. She wished that she was able to take it all away and be the one going through what her son had been through. She thought about the terrible things she did early in her life and burned at the unfairness of it all. Why wasn't she the one being punished with cancer instead of her sweet baby boy? She had been a thousand times more deserving. _The sins of the parent shall be visited upon the child_. She remembered hearing that parable somewhere or other, and she couldn't believe how true it had turned out to be for her. Back in the day she never thought she wanted children, never in her wildest dreams envisioned herself as a mother, so parables and them later coming through hadn't even registered with her back then. Her baby didn't deserve to pay for her sins and she, silly her, thought that she had paid for quite a few of them over the years. She had completely turned her life around, had made amends to people whom she'd hurt along the way and had garnered forgiveness from several of them even. So why were her early transgressions being visited now on her sweet, innocent boy? A cruel twist of fate had taken her first child, baby Lila, from her when she was still born years before, had later led her to believe that Danny had died after birth, had given him cancer when he was but a year old, and now here they were again, fate laughing in her face as it was about to deal them another vicious blow.

"Stop thinking like that, Sam. You didn't cause this and Danny will be fine, we'll make certain of it." Sam looked over to where Jake sat in the corner of the room, where he had quietly been sitting all night, watching over them. Sam had tried several times to tell him that he didn't have to stay, but he had insisted, leaving only for brief periods only to return and continue his vigil with her. To say she had been puzzled by Jake Doe all night was an understatement. There was that _thing_ that happened at the penthouse - what had that been between them? It was as though he had connected to her in the most intimate way in those moments that had her transfixed by him, a state of mind that only one other person in this world had ever left her in. Then there was the way in which he'd been protecting her son all night, from the way he'd latched onto him and refused to give him up until he absolutely had to, to the affront between him and Patrick, to his vigil by Danny's bedside. Sam didn't know what to make of any of it, and now, it was as if he was reading her thoughts on top of everything else. She looked at him curiously, how did he know what she'd been thinking? For the umpteenth time in a few hours she found herself comparing Jake Doe to Jason. Jason used to be able to do that. Jason had always been on the same wavelength as her, knew her better than anybody in the world, and was always able to read her mind in the same uncanny way. The piling similarities between this man and her late husband were nerve wracking to Sam, as if her nerves weren't already in a jumbled pool over her babyboy.

"How are you doing that?" She asked quietly, as she studied him across the room. He'd been sitting there, his head back against the wall, watching them as he had all night. She was grateful that he'd stayed, surprised by how much she enjoyed having him near.

"You're not as hard to read as you think."

The door opened and the doctor came in with Patrick in tow. Patrick had gone on duty a few hours earlier, after failing at trying to get Jake to leave. He looked at the man rising from the chair with disapproval as Danny's doctor approached Sam with a smile, "you can relax, Mrs. Morgan. Danny has a cold and a slight fever, but he's going to be just fine."

Sam released the breath she had been holding as he came close, her relief washing through her at the glorious sound of his words. "Are you absolutely sure? His cancer's not back?" She had eased up slightly on her elbow, not releasing her baby for a second. "You're sure?"

The doctor nodded his head for emphasis as he continued, "we ran the tests several times and there is no sign of cancer. Your little man is experiencing the normal pains of childhood, nothing more. I want him to rest for now while we continue to administer fluids and monitor his vitals, but you should be able to take him home this afternoon."

Sam couldn't hold back the tears of pure elation and as relief coursed through her, she kissed her son's forehead as he continued to sleep, completely oblivious to all the grown up emotions around him. Patrick had moved to stand next to her by the bed, rubbing her shoulder as she held her son. Jake had risen from his chair when the doctor came in, but had kept his distance, moving only a few inches over so he could clearly view the alluring picture of his relieved wife kissing on their son, his own heart smiling with joy at the realization that he would not be losing him. Danny was going to be okay and not even the sight of Drake's unwanted image hovering over them could spoil the picture for him.

The doctor turned to acknowledge Jake. "I have one more piece of excellent news." All eyes were on him again, as he looked back at Sam and Danny, using one hand to wave Jake over to them. "Mr. Doe here, is a perfect match for Danny. If ever he should need it, Danny has another person who can give him a transplant." The doctor hurried to finish, "of course we hope he's never needed, but it's good to know he's a match."

Sam was crying even more and couldn't seem to stop all the tears from coming. "You got tested for Danny?" Her voice was soft as she addressed her friend through her quiet sobbing.

Jason wanted so much to go to her, to dry the tears that she cried and to hold his family to his heart and rock their hurt away. "Of course, I did, Sam. It's the least that I could do." She had no idea how true those words were, he wanted to do so much more for his family, getting tested was the very least he could do for his son, his flesh and blood. He would go to the end of the earth to save their miracle baby.

Fighting the urge to go to them and to blurt everything out to Sam in that moment, Jason excused himself and stepped out of the room. He couldn't do it in this way, she was already a mess from everything going on with Danny, he couldn't pile the shock of him coming back from the dead ontop of it all. He would tell her later, after she'd had a chance to calm down and revel in the joy that her son's life was no longer in danger. He would sit her down and tell her that he was back, that he'd come back to her at long last. Jason looked up and saw Elizabeth behind the nurse's desk, typing on the computer as she carried on a conversation with a dark haired man, his hands bracing him as he stood on the opposite side holding onto the desk. So, her reinforcements had arrived, Jason thought as he watched his fiancé and the prince carry on a cloaked and clearly heated discussion in whispers. Those two thought they would play with his life and the lives of those he loved more than anything in the world. Okay then, let the games begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Jason went to Elizabeth's house to relieve the babysitter and while the boys slept he sat alone in the living room, deciding what needed to be done. First order of business, tell his wife. She needed to know that he was home, that he had come back to her, he would always come back to her. Then he would set about making those who had kept them apart regret ever trying to come between them.

He went up to the bedroom he was sharing with her and tousled the bed to make it look as though he'd slept in it, throwing a pillow to the floor for good effect. He'd just stepped out of the shower when he heard her come in, appearing in the bedroom two minutes later. She looked over to the unmade bed and he could see the visible ease in her composure, as he watched her from the bathroom mirror. He saw her head his way and knew she'd try to kiss him, so he instantly stuck his toothbrush in his mouth. The thought of ever having her lips or any part of her on him ever again turned his stomach, but his wife would be the first person he'd tell that he remembered. She's the very first person he ever wanted to share everything with.

"Good morning, handsome. She started to wrap her arms around his middle when he stepped to the right of her and grabbed his T-shirt, slipping it over his head, toothbrush still in his mouth as he moved further away from her.

"Hey, you're home," he mumbled around the brush. "You must be dead on your feet, huh?"

She smiled as she admired his abs before he pulled the t-shirt down fully, moving towards him again as she replied, "you have no idea. I feel like I could sleep all day." He'd bent down quickly to grab the wet towel from the floor, walking away from her over to the hamper. "Wanna join me?"

"Can't. I have a million things to do today, matter of fact, I have to get going…I'll see you later." He threw the toothbrush on the counter and was halfway across the bedroom when she called his name. He turned to look at her, forcing himself to mask the feelings of disgust as she asked, "is everything, okay?"

"Never better, why?" Before the day was out he'd be sharing some incredible news with his wife and the love of his life, what could be better.

She hesitated to answer as she saw what looked like indifference on his face, but she convinced her worried mind that if he'd known who he was he would not have come back last night and slept in their bed. He would surely have told Sam and she obviously still had no idea, given how Elizabeth saw her earlier at the hospital and everything was normal. Her fears were unfounded and she needed to listen to Nicholas and stop acting so suspicious before she gave herself away. Everything was fine, Jason loved her and they were getting married soon. She put on what she hoped was a seductive smile. "I'm just hoping you'll change your mind and join me in the shower."

"I can't, but I'll see you very soon, I promise." He turned and left and Elizabeth could almost swear that his parting words sounded more like a threat than a promise, but again she shook it off as her nerves about the whole situation. She was reading too much into everything because she was overtired, stressed and anxious. She would get some much needed sleep, fine tune her gameplan, then spend some quality time with her fiancé planning their nuptials. Jason would be all hers before anybody knew the truth.

Jason practically ran from the house in his haste to put distance between them. It had taken every discipline he'd ever taught himself to not confront her and make her pay for what she did to them. Not yet, Morgan, he told himself as he jumped into his car and headed towards downtown. First things first, and Sam and Danny would always be that.

Jason spent the entire morning running around Port Charles, revisiting the places that had meant so much to his life, and almost everywhere he went it was as if he was seeing it for the first time in a really long time. The smallest things seemed to mean more and he had a new appreciation for it all. Even the coffee from Kelly's tasted just a little bit sweeter, so, remembering his wife's penchant for coffee he stopped by to grab her some Corinthos original before heading over to GH. He was more than a little bit anxious to get his family home. _Home_ , the penthouse had always been that for them, and he was really looking forward to taking them back there.

By some miracle the stars were lining up in his favor by the time he got the hospital after lunchtime. Jason was expecting to have to do battle with Patrick Drake to get to take his family home, but as luck would have it, the good doctor was called into emergency surgery before he got there, and Alexis had court so he got the pleasure all to himself. Danny was discharged with doctor's orders to keep him hydrated and as Sam got him settled in bed for a mid-afternoon nap, Jason paced the living room nervously rehearsing what he would say, how he would broach the subject. Nothing that came to mind seemed right, and he knew there was just no easy way to do it.

He was standing by the terrace looking down at the harbor when she came down. Hearing her on the landing he turned to watch her descend and his breath caught in his throat. She hadn't slept in what seemed like days and she was still worried about their son, yet she had never looked more beautiful to him. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and she wore a simple dark jeans and red t-shirt, but she may as well have descended in the finest evening gown for how beautiful she was to him. He approached her as she left the landing and walked over to the dining area, smiling up at him in gratitude.

"Thank you, Jake. I appreciate this so much."

"Please don't thank me, Sam. I would've been offended if you hadn't let me do this for you and Danny. Did he get down okay?"

"He's out like a light. I tell you, I'm so relieved everytime a cold turns out to be nothing but a circulating germ on the playground. I drive myself nuts everytime he sneezes but that kid means everything to me. He's the best part of Jason and me, the absolutely best thing we've ever done."

"I know, I feel the same way."

Her eyes narrowed in question as she studied him. "What do you mean?"

Her question caught him offguard until he realized what he'd said. Well, no time like the present. He neared her cautiously, but Sam backed away, skeptically, memories of the last time they'd been alone at the penthouse fresh in her mind.

"Jake, we can't. I'm with Patrick." Sam had no idea what it was about him that kept hypnotizing her, but she had to find a way to put it to rest, she was involved in a relationship that was going somewhere. It wouldn't be fair to Patrick for her to give in to whatever was between her and Jake. She continued weakly, "and you love Elizabeth."

He didn't seem to be listening. He kept advancing until her back was to the wall and he was close enough to rest his forehead to hers, lightly touching the arms that had fallen to rest at her sides, the ever present electricity between them scorching where he touched, and as he closed his eyes and breathed in her intoxicatingly sweet scent, he whispered ever so softly, "it's me, Sam. It's me."

Sam was feeling light-headed and hazy. She didn't know what was happening but it felt so very good. His touch upon her skin, his forehead pressed to hers, and then the lightest, most feathery brush of his lips upon hers, seconds before it became crushing and hard. Something in her moaned and grasped feverishly for him and his answering groan followed his tongue as it invaded the depth of her mouth and danced with hers, so very familiar in its headiness. She wrapped her arms around his body, gripping his waist and stroking where her hands fell, as he claimed her tongue and sucked it into his mouth, crushing her lips with his own and pulling her full length into him to hold her soft body in a vice. He was warm and rock solid at every surface where his body touched hers and Sam was swept up into an inferno that started at her lips and burned right through her core. She knew this kiss, had died in its swirls a million times over and been transported by its torrent waves. After sweet, sweet eternity her lips slowly left his and her breathing became calm but the rainbow of whirling, dizzying emotions flittered through her chest and mind and with eyes still closed and forehead back to bracing his, Sam inhaled and whispered, "Jason."


	7. Chapter 7

Sam was in a dream. The love of her life had just wrapped her up in his arms and taken her breath away the same way he always did…by kissing her senseless. When had she fallen asleep? Surely this was a dream, a wonderful, sensational, fantastic dream and she didn't want it to end. She wanted to go on floating in a world where he came back, where he wasn't gone forever and she wasn't forced to go on without him. She wanted to stay in his arms in her dream in their cocoon and she could feel him making soft circles on her back keeping her entranced. With her heartbeat slowed and her breathing calm, Sam ventured to open her eyes and lift her head, only to find herself falling again into the deepest blue. She shook her head in quiet disbelief, "I know it can't be you, my mind knows that it can't be you, but…"

His hand reached up and stroked her cheek, his thumb brushing away tears she didn't even realize were trailing down her face and he smiled. "Only, it really is me, baby."

She didn't understand, couldn't make sense of any of it. "But how? It's not possible - there's no way! You're Jake, we're trying to find out who you are, where you came from." She tried to step away from him, tried to back out of his arms so she could think but he refused to let her go. If anything he held her tighter and although she wanted a clear head so she could understand, so she could see, she also wanted to keep feeling him all around her. She looked into his warm blue eyes again and they were her husband's eyes, looking at her with her husband's love, warming through to her soul. "Jason?"

Then he was kissing her again and Sam's knees gave out underneath her, becoming like jello, and so she clung to him tight, tight, giving in to the sensations that transported her to the cloud she lived on during his kisses, sinking deeper and deeper into him, yearning, wanting, feeling his strong lips moving over hers as he tasted one and then the other, tracing his tongue slowly over the lower, sucking it into his mouth then releasing it to trace it again right before plunging his seeking tongue deep within the caverns of her mouth. This was Jason.

Jason released her lips finally and looked at her again, realizing what she had to be feeling. He knew that he had overwhelmed and shocked her and he knew that he should've been explaining everything so she could understand but he couldn't stop himself from kissing those lips, and once he'd started kissing those lips he never could stop. He laid a brief peck on her again then swung her up into his arms and walked her over to the couch where he sat her down gently, not pulling away from her, not wanting to be an inch away from her ever again. She evidently felt the same way as she clung to his hand as though for dear life.

"Tell me everything…when did you start remembering? Do you know what happened to you? Where were you before last year? How…?" She couldn't stop the questions that poured.

Jason smiled and stroked her cheek tenderly. "I know you have questions, and I'll try to answer every single one, okay?"

She nodded, still looking at him in wonder, unbelieving still that her fortune could be this good. She would need some concrete proof but…his kisses…Jason's kisses had never lied.

He took a deep breath before he began. "I was just watching television a couple days ago and a commercial about Hawaii…it was like a floodgate after that."

"Hawaii…our place." She was crying again.

He nodded and touched her face, "yes, Sam…our very special place." They shared a long, silent look before he started again. "I came here to see you because I had to figure out a way to tell you it was me, and I almost did."

Realization dawned and she smiled and said, "that was when you called me Mighty Mouse."

He leaned his head a little to the side as he studied her beautiful face. "That's who you are, my little Mighty Mouse. But then our baby boy got sick and I couldn't tell you, you were dealing with so much already. I knew I had to wait, but when I brought you home today I knew I couldn't wait another second to hold you, to touch you," he said as he caressed her face with the back of his fingers.

Sam leaned her head and moved her cheek against them as he stroked her face, and his eyes told her everything that her own heart was feeling. This was her soulmate, no doubt about it. He had been here all this time, he'd come home, had been right there with them every day but nobody knew. But deep in her heart she knew that she knew. She'd felt it so many times whenever he was near, that pull, the connection, like he'd been a friend forever. Her heart had known him but her brain had told her that her heart was so very wrong.

"Take your shirt off."

"What?"

"Please, take your shirt off. I want to see."

He was surprised by her request, "Sam…" but she was grabbing the hem of his t-shirt and lifting it over his head. "I thought I'd give you time to adjust, but…okay." He helped her to finish taking the t-shirt off and just as he reached for her he realized that she was crying again, openly sobbing into one hand clasped firmly against her mouth. With her free hand, she reached out and touched the scar just underneath his collarbone, then traced a path down to another on his chest. "It really is you! Jason, baby, it's you!" Her sobs grew as she threw herself into his arms, clasping his shoulders tightly. She hugged him so close that not even air could pass between them and as he hugged her back she started to shower his face with kisses, rapid kisses one after the other, covering his cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead, his beautiful nose, and when she'd covered every surface of his face she started all over again. "Oh, God, Jason, baby, it's really you!"

"It's me, Sam. It's really me…I promise."

She released her death grip on his shoulders to lean back and let her arms drift down his, moving one hand back to the scar near his collarbone, running her fingers over the raised area. "Do you remember how you got this?"

He smiled at her and covered her hand with his. " _It was worth getting shot because we found our way back together_." He thought he was being cute saying the same thing that he'd said to her after Mexico but it only seemed to make her cry more. He wiped her face yet again, "you're going to get seriously dehydrated if you don't stop," he teased her.

Sam laughed through her tears, looked at the scar she was tracing with her hand, then bent her head and kissed it tenderly, before laying against his chest, listening to the soothing rhythm of his heart. This was Jason's heart, she thought, as she closed her eyes and let the tears dry up. He didn't have Jason's face anymore but the scars, his heartbeat, the feel of his arms wrapped around her, were all the same. This is the man that her heart knew.

Suddenly the front door opened up and Alexis Davis walked in with Molly in tow, stopping short at the doorway, their conversation forgotten when they saw the scene unfolding before them. Sam was sitting on the couch seemingly asleep in the arms of a shirtless Jake Doe, both holding onto each other as if for dear life. To say they were shocked speechless would be an understatement. Startled by their sudden appearance Sam leapt from Jason's arms as they both stood up from the couch, Jason reaching for and donning his shirt, Sam swabbing at her watery eyes. "M-mom, Molly, hi."

Neither could seem to find words but just stood by the open door, motionless, waiting for things to start making sense again.

Sam spoke up, "I know you must have questions but you won't believe what's happening, the wonderful, wonderful thing that's happening!"

Molly was first to recover. "Hello, Jake, it's nice to see you." Always the polite and mature Davis girl.

Jason was uneasy and growing more so by the minute. Not only did he resent the intrusion on his time with Sam, but he wanted to explain everything to her first, in private, before he had to face questions from everyone else. "Hello, Molly. Alexis."

Alexis still couldn't seem to find her voice and Jason found it amusing how she'd had the same reaction to him for years. It was comforting to see some things didn't change.

Molly had moved into the room to stand next to Sam, anxious to hear the wonderful news. "What is your news, Sam? Is it Danny, you got to bring him home today, right?"

Sam grabbed her little sister's hand and squeezed, smiling brightly at her. "Yes, Danny's asleep upstairs and he's just fine, but that's only one piece of the good news that I got today." She looked up at Jason, her smile dazzlingly bright.

Alexis remembered her voice finally, closed the door and came further into the room. "I can't wait…what news is this?" What the hell was Sam doing making out on the couch with Jake Doe? She was involved with Patrick, and wasn't he engaged to marry Elizabeth Webber? Her daughter was never that kind of reckless so what the hell was she doing?

"You better sit down for this. I'm not kidding, you both want to be sitting down when you hear this."


	8. Chapter 8

Alexis was in shock, she just couldn't follow what her daughter was trying to say to her. Her legs gave out and she sank into the couch as she gaped open-mouthed at Jake Doe, then looked back to Sam, both standing above her, saying…WHAT? "Jason? B-but how? That's not possible!"

Molly stood next to her, her hands clasped over her mouth and nose, eyes bulging wide, staring at the man before them. Now that they mentioned it she could see the blaring similarities. There had always been something almost eerily familiar about the man, especially when he was in Sam's presence, and now, looking at him here at the penthouse, a place where his love for her sister had been sewn and blossomed, a love that she had witnessed first hand and compared to outweigh the most beautifully epic love stories she's read, she could see it. She could see Jason in him. His face was of course different, but he had Jason's kind eyes, he looked at her sister with Jason's love from those eyes now - she's seen that look between them a million times over the years, he was built like Jason was, he even stood like him. "Oh-my-God!" How did they not know? How did they not see?

Jason had hurriedly put his shirt back on when the ladies entered the room, almost blushing at his state of undress before them. He wanted more time with Sam, he needed more time to explain, to hold her, to reconnect and to let her feel his love. He wasn't ready for an audience but he had to play the hands that were dealt. He looked from one to the other shyly, wishing they'd stop gaping at him but understanding their utter shock. He was supposed to be dead, they'd helped Sam through her grief over him being dead, they'd helped her to move on without him, and now - here he was - and he'd been living among them for a while. Alexis couldn't be too pleased he was sure, and looking at her then, he sprung into action, rushing to the kitchen and coming back with a paper bag that he handed gingerly to her. That's when she really lost it, grabbing the side of the couch and breathing hard, gasping to catch difficult breaths.

Sam leapt forward and took the bag that Jason held out to her mom, assisting a hyperventilating Alexis to hold it over her mouth and to clasp her hands around the edges to seal in the oxygen-carbon monoxide mix inside the paper bag, rubbing her back soothingly as she coaxed her to take deep breaths. "That's it mom - breathe, breathe." She looked up at Jason with gratitude, marveling that he remembered. This was definitely Jason.

As if coming to the same conclusion finally and after several encased breaths, Alexis' breathing evened out and she was able to speak again. She looked at the man watching her warily, "how did you know I needed that?" She saw the sheepish look about him then and she knew. "It's really you, isn't it? But how?" Her eyes pleaded with him to make her understand.

Jason raised his shoulders in an extended shrug as he tried to explain, "It's a really long story that I'd like to tell Sam first, but Helena, car accident…here I am?"

Alexis looked at her eldest daughter and she couldn't possibly guess all that she must be feeling. The look on her face was one of pure elation and love, but everything was now complicated, wasn't it? "But…Patrick!" She wanted to take it back the moment it was stuttered, seeing the confusion set in on her daughter's face, the uncertain look she cast in Jason's direction. To her son-in-law's credit…oh, my God, he was still her son-in-law, he looked at her daughter as though to convey regret. "I'm sorry - I don't know why I said that - I'm sure you'll figure everything out." She stood from the couch, finding her legs again and grabbed hold of a still stunned Molly, pulling her with her towards the stairs. "We'll just ahhh, check on Danny."

She'd almost gotten them to the foot of the stairs when Molly broke from her hold and rushed for Jason, throwing herself into his arms and flinging hers around his neck, squeezing him tightly as she said, "welcome home, Jason!" After what felt like minutes to Jason she untangled her arms to lean back and look into his face, repeating, "welcome home!"

Jason felt uncomfortable but he understood. He smiled at Molly's exuberance as he nodded at her, "thank you, Molly. It's good to be home."

"Molly, come," Alexis was waving her over with one hand, the paper bag clutched firmly in the other as though not trusting that she wouldn't need it again that very minute. Molly went to her, turning back again and again to look at her brother-in-law even as she climbed the stairs with her mother, gleefully filled with happiness for her sister and him. Sam's love came back! Danny's father came back, and he was standing right there! Not even the finality of death had kept him from them…yep, better than any love story ever written on paper!

Sam shook her head at her sister's reaction and turned from watching them climb the stairs, immediately apologetic. "I'm so sorry about them. I know that was the last thing that you needed but they live here now, as you may know." She trailed off as she realized the enormity of her words, not knowing how to start to explain. She thought back to her husband helping her to move into Patrick's house, into another man's home to start a life with him, and it hit her like an hammer to the chest…she had moved on from him and he lived to know! Horror struck her suddenly, her hands flying to her mouth as the tears sprung to sting at her eyes, "Oh, Jason!" She shook her head vigorously, wanting, needing to explain, "I didn't know, Jason! Oh, my God - I didn't know!" Guilt clutched at her heart and squeezed at her soul in agonizing pain…she had broken her marriage vows, had another man in her marriage bed, her marital home, she'd had her son seeing another man as his father figure, when all along, for the last… _YEAR_? For the last _year_ , her husband, the love of her life, the one true purveyor and captor of her soul, her heart, her spirit, had been right here, right in front of her, right at her fingertips where she could touch, feel, and hold him. She moved to instantly hold him then, clasping his back, resting against the heart in his chest as she shook her head vigorously, "Jason, I didn't know - I'm so, so, so, so sorry!"

Jason enclosed her in his arms and held her tight. He wanted to keep her like this forever and never, ever let her go again. Her anguish hurt his heart and her tears wet his soul. "Of course you didn't know, baby, how could you know?" He squeezed her tighter as he rocked her in place to quiet her sobs and soothe her fears. "Please, please don't apologize, Sam…you couldn't know!" He leaned back so he could touch his forehead to hers - every surface of him needed to be touching her. "I didn't know either, Sam, and I'm sorry too." He kissed her cute little nose as the sobs quieted and she moved her head to rest on his chest again. "I'm so sorry I didn't figure it out. I've been drawn to you for so long but I ignored it and I kept my distance. I couldn't understand why I was having dreams and visions of your beautiful face and infectious laugh, and I should've pushed to know, Sam. I should've pushed! I'm so sorry, Sam."

"I should've listened too, Jason. I knew in my heart that I knew you, but I didn't listen. Instead, what I listened to were people who told me you were gone forever, that you'd never come back to me, that it wasn't possible…but in my heart I knew. It has never felt to me like you were truly gone, but I listened to logic and made reason put you to rest, put our love to rest, forced myself to move on. I'm so sorry, Jason. I'm so, so sorry." She didn't know where all the tears were coming from.

Jason wiped her face again. "Please stop crying baby. This is good, this right here is the best thing that's happened to me all year and you have nothing to apologize for. I've been gone a really long time and you have been raising our son by yourself…of course you thought I wasn't coming back, I could never blame you for any of that. I was the one who left that night, I was the one who put our family in danger by leaving you alone…I'm the one who's sorry, Sam." His voice faltered and caught in his throat when he thought of all the times he'd left her and she always understood. She'd always been much too good for him, but living without her would never be a conscious option, not for him, not ever.

"No, Jason, don't ever feel like you have to apologize to me for going to help a friend. You didn't consciously leave Danny and me, you went to do your job - you went to help Bernie, and I have never blamed you for doing that, never!" The sobs wracked her again in that instant. "A _huge_ part of me died when I thought you did, but you'd left me with something so precious that I had to go on for him. I had to make sure I gave him the life that you've always wanted for our child, so I put my grief to rest and I moved on for Danny, but Jason, I never, ever put my love for you out of my heart. You have to know that! Please tell me you know that!"

He was nodding and wiping the tears from her beautiful face, his thumbs lingering as they trailed the wet path and caressed his love. "I know, baby, I'll always know."

After that they opened up to each other, Jason told Sam what happened to him from the time he could remember waking up in the clinic, to how he'd escaped with Robin and made his way back to town, trying so hard to get back to her, but was run over by the car - the almost tragic accident that forced the face change and caused his memory loss. Sam in turn filled him in on some of what he'd missed, including the day that Steve Webber stopped by the penthouse to give her the most incredible news, that after everything that Franco and Heather Webber had put them through, after all the heartache they'd endured thinking that Sam had been violated and impregnated by that violator on their honeymoon, that Danny was really Jason's son in every single way. Jason listened to every word she imparted, smiling from ear to ear when he heard again that Danny was really his, and he had to fight the mitigating urge to run up the stairs and wake his son from his slumber so he could hold him again. As though reading his thoughts, same as she had always been able to do from the very start, Sam smiled too and reassured her love, "he's yours, Jason. You get to hold him every day from now on. You get to love him and teach him and guide him through his blessed little life. He's safe, and healthy, and warm upstairs in bed…and he's all ours."

They spent the next minutes holding each other, sitting together on the couch and just being there. For a long while there was no talking between them, just closeness, togetherness, and the most calm and unbridling peace.

Jason knew that he had more to tell her but he was reluctant to bring the ugliness into their cocoon. He wanted one night, just one night where he could enjoy his family and the tranquility that washed over his soul, to be all that they encountered in that one night. But it was not to be.

Hearing a knock at the door Sam reluctantly drew herself from his arms and Jason even more reluctantly let her move, and as soon as she opened the door to him, Jason wished he had insisted that it remained closed. Patrick Drake stood there, smiling at his wife in an intimate way that made Jason want to punch the man. He had successfully forgotten him up until that point. Eyeing him suspiciously as he entered the penthouse, Jason looked from him to Sam and his heart melted at the confusion he could see that she was feeling. He couldn't do this to her, couldn't force her to go through this with him as an audience, knowing that she would be guarded against saying anything that might hurt him, that she would be concerned about his feelings in the situation as she tried to navigate something already made difficult by his still burningly new revelation. He knew that he needed to show her the respect of giving her privacy to handle her business. That's why as hard as it was in that minute for him to leave her in the presence of this man, he would do it, because one thing that would never ever change about them was that he would do anything in the world for Samantha Morgan. Anything.

Jason reached for his coat on the arm of the couch and moved towards the door, looking directly at Sam and ignoring the hateful stare from Patrick Drake. The doctor may have saved his life a hundred times but they would never see eye to eye. Never did and now, given the biblical proximity the man has known to his wife, they never ever would. Looking only at his wife as he neared he told her tenderly, "I'll give you some privacy to do this," stopping directly in front of her as he added softly, "call me after?"

Sam nodded, not trusting herself to speak, knowing that if she did it would be to ask him not to go. She didn't want him out of her sight again, didn't want him to ever be out of sight now that she just got him back, but she knew he was right. She owed Patrick the respect of a private conversation, and the sooner that happened, the sooner her heart could come back to her, where he belonged.


	9. Chapter 9

Jason stood at the water's edge and lost himself in deep thought. He spent hours gazing out to the horizon, replaying in his mind the horrible events that led to him being separated from Sam and Danny that fateful night, right back until tonight when he held them in his arms again. He couldn't wait to reclaim his family, to have his wife and his son back where they rightfully belonged, but before he could make his one heartfelt dream their reality, he needed to set some things and a few people straight. He would start with the one closest to him at the moment, the snake that he'd been blindly bedding for months, the rattler who's sting he'd been oblivious to for so long. He turned purposefully away from the pier and headed towards his new destination. Charity did start at home after all.

Elizabeth was waiting up for him when he got there, and as he looked at her with renewed and refreshed eyes, the treachery and deceit mixed with the decaying stench of desperation and fear of discovery was bouncing off her in waves. Jason couldn't believe that he'd passed it off as harmless jitters all these months. He looked at her misleadingly angelic face and wondered for the hundredth time how she could live with her actions, how she could justify her cold disposition, and his resolution to hurt her in the most cruel way was so strong he had to take a deep breath, reminding himself that he had self-taught discipline for just these situations.

"Jake, honey, you're finally home! Where've you been all day?"

He moved to sit beside her, taking her hands in his and feeling the warm, yet cold blood that ran through her veins, looking deep into her eyes he said, "I have something wonderful and life changing to tell you. Elizabeth, I found out that I'm Jason Morgan!" He watched the sheer terror run through her eyes before she quickly dropped the rehearsed mask back in place.

"Wh-what? No, you're mistaken, Jake - Jason Morgan is dead. He died four years ago. You can't be him."

It was all he could do to touch her, to let any part of her near him ever again, but two can play this insidious game. "No, Elizabeth. I know that's what everyone thought, but I didn't die. I'm Jason, and I found out when I had some tests run at the hospital. I got tested as a possible match for Danny Morgan and the lab ran a DNA test for possible lineage as well, and it turns out that I'm Jason Morgan, I'm Danny Morgan's father! Imagine my shock!"

Elizabeth turned ashen white and she was sure he could hear her heart beating out of her chest. There was no way for her to fight a DNA test so trying to convince him he wasn't Jason Morgan wouldn't make sense now. She needed to find something else, quickly, to convince him that no matter who he was he belonged with her, but before she could say anything his next words left her even more floored.

"I know what you're thinking but it doesn't matter that I'm Jason Morgan. Without Jason Morgan's memories I'm still Jake Doe, and Jake Doe wants to marry you and raise a family with you, Elizabeth, nobody else but you."

She couldn't be hearing him right. Every word he'd spoken since stepping through the front door had thrown her for a loop, and he continued to do so. "You don't want to go back to Sam?" Could she be hearing him correctly? The one fear that had driven her for months, that had given her nightmares and cold sweats, is turning out to be a non-factor? He wouldn't leave her for the slut again?

Jason shook his head and looked down at their joined hands and the engagement ring he'd been duped into putting on her. "Sam would want the husband back that remembered her, who remembered loving her. Jake Doe is not that man, and besides, she's been happy with Patrick Drake." He looked up into her relieved, deceitful, lying eyes and continued, "that's where I was earlier, I went to tell her that I know who I am. I left her with Patrick Drake and I went for a walk along the pier to clear my head and I know, I _know_ in the deepest part of my heart that I'm making the right choice."

Elizabeth was so relieved that she could have broken out in Disney song and danced a grassy mountain top. She threw her arms around his neck and drew him close. He knew who he was and he was choosing to stay with her, oh lucky day. She could've saved herself so much heartache if she had only known. He would've chosen her anyway.

Jason pulled her lecherous arms from around his neck and continued, forcing her to listen to his words. The sooner he could get the rancid act over with and get away from her the better her chances of him not strangling her with his bare hands. "There's just one thing I have to do."

"What?" She would give him anything he wanted in that moment. He wasn't leaving her.

"I know that Robin Scorpio-Drake left her family to save me, and I learned that the same night that I came to town she told her family that she was moving to Paris, even though her daughter was the most important thing in the world to her. From what everyone's told me about her, I don't believe that she's alright or that she left on her own." He saw the selfishness creep over her face and before the hateful, needy words could be spoken out loud to grate his nerves he hurried to continue, "she left her family and risked her life to save mine, Elizabeth. I need to make sure that she left on her own accord, and that she's really okay. I will not be able to live with myself if she's in danger and I don't try to repay my debt to her." He squeezed her hand as he added the icing on the proverbial as well as the literal cake…"I need to leave tonight to find her, but I want you to do something extremely important while I'm gone."

Her eyes popped open even wider, "what's that?"

"I want you to move our wedding up. I'll have Diane take care of getting me a quickie divorce so that the day I come back to town you and I can go straight to the church so I can give you everything that you have coming your way!"

Her smile was so wide a tractor trailer could park there and have room left over. "Really? You want us to get married right away?"

He smiled wickedly at her, "three days, and I want you to invite the whole, entire town! I want everyone there so they can bear witness so there will never be any doubt as to how I really feel about you. I want to give you it all, Elizabeth, and I want them all to see."

She was like a greedy little piggy in a candy store at that point, rattling off the names of who she'd invite , his wife being one of them - of all the nerve, and where she'd go the next day to find the perfect dress. Jason got up from the couch and moved towards the stairs. "Sounds perfect!" He took the stairs two at a time and hurriedly threw some things in a bag, making his way out the door just as she was coming in. "Jason, are you sure you have to leave tonight? Can't we celebrate first before you have to go?"

He would rather eat glass. "The quicker I do this, the quicker I can set my mind at ease and concentrate on giving you everything you so truly deserve."

She couldn't contain her utter joy, but she was panicked too. "How do you know that you're not walking into a dangerous situation? I would die if anything happened to you."

He smiled dryly, if wishes were horses. "I'm not danger junky Jason anymore, remember? I just want to check the address in Paris where they said Robin moved to and see for myself that she's fine. I'm sure I'll be on the next plane home, just make sure that when I get back you're ready to do this."

"I will, Jason. I've been ready to be your wife for a long time, and nothing will stop us from being happy, finally. It's finally our time, Jason, finally."

He rushed past her before she could reach for a kiss, literally running down the stairs and out the door. "I'll see you soon."

He had one very important stop before he left town, his wife should be done with Drake and he needed to finish telling her everything. On the elevator headed to the penthouse Jason thought about how much he'd missed going home to Sam. He had always loved going home to her, and it had been one of the most cherished things that got him through his day…going home to her warm smile and welcoming touch. She had turned the cold, lonely penthouse where he laid his head into a warm, cozy home where they got lost in each other the minute they crossed the threshold. He had missed that deeply, had never had it before her and hadn't had it since.

He exited the elevator and his back went up instantly at the sound of Drake's raised voice. Jason knocked on the door and turned the handle, entering when the door gave way. A visibly upset Sam was standing by the dining area with her arms crossed over her chest, facing a fuming Drake who was yelling something about promises and commitment. "Hey!" Jason made his voice loud and angry enough to get the man's attention, but still low enough to be respectful to his sleeping son and the other members of the household. "Don't yell at my wife in her own home!"

"This is no longer her home!" Jason almost leapt at his throat but that was not the fight he wanted to have tonight. The doctor continued, "Look, Jason, I don't care what kind of miracle brought you back from the dead and gave you a second shot at life, _pun intended_ , but you can't just expect to come back and pick up right where you left off." He approached Jason but swung his arm back to indicate in Sam's direction, "it's not fair to Sam and Danny for you to expect that they were just waiting around for you as usual while you put everything and everyone else before them! Sam and I are building something here, and I'm not going to just step aside to let you break up our family."

Jason glared at the man before he walked past him and went to his wife, noticing the way she looked away as she tried to hide the obvious fact that she'd been crying. "Sam, are you okay?" His voice was soft and meant only for her ears.

She nodded and turned away from both of them and Jason was overcome with the need to protect and comfort her. Wanting to diffuse the immediate threat to her peace of mind, he turned back to the doctor, addressing him coldly. "This will _always_ be her home and Sam didn't cause any of this and I will not let you talk to her that way. She just found out that I'm alive, and you what…expect that she should run on back over to your house and pretend that we didn't share a meaningful life together that was ripped out from under us without any warning? That we don't have a son together and I'm not standing here living and breathing like you and everybody else, when she thought I was gone forever?"

He saw the anger growing in the man and didn't care. "Whether you like it or not our marriage was real and deep and it meant the world to both of us. It's not some disposable thing that will be dropped just because you or anybody other than Sam and I think it should be." He approached the doc threateningly, "Is this what you've been doing since I left earlier? You've been here badgering my wife this whole time, making her cry?" He wanted to punch the doc's lights out but Sam didn't need that.

Her soft voice stopped him before he could reconsider. "Jason, it's okay. I understand why Patrick's mad." She approached the men and laid her hand on Jason's arm as she moved between them to face Patrick. "You're right, we were building something special and good and our little family would've meant the world to me, but Patrick, Jason _is_ my family. Jason is my heart, and you knew that. He's not dead, he's standing here in front of us alive and breathing and as much as I hate that this hurts you, I cannot act like this isn't a gift that I've dreamed of since the night he was taken away from me. You know first hand how I grieved for him and how profoundly his loss affected Danny and me. I don't want to hurt you, you've helped me through some really tough days when the loss threatened to consume me and I love you for that…but don't act like you don't know what this feels like. You went through this very thing when you thought Robin was dead and she came back to you. You grabbed on with both hands and held on tight because she was the love of your life and she came back."

"Sam, you saw how that ended for Robin and me - it turned out that I made the wrong choice when I left Sabrina."

Sam shook her head at her friend, "even if that was true, Jason and I are not you and Robin. Do you really believe that though, Patrick? Can you honestly tell me that you regret choosing to rebuild the life that you had with your soulmate and that you wouldn't make the same choice again if you had to? Because I can't…I will always choose Jason. My heart will always choose Jason."

He tried to plead with her. "He hurts you, Sam, he will hurt you again. There's always something or someone that's more important and he will leave you again. Do you really want to give him that chance?"

She leaned her head to the side and reached out to cup his cheek, giving him hope and Jason dread, until they both heard her next words, "I would rather experience one more passion-filled, tragic day in the arms of the love of my life, than a contented lifetime spent being comfortable and safe."

Patrick yanked his head from her palm. "I hope you know what you're doing, but I will not be sitting around while you decide to throw away what we have waiting to see if he leaves Elizabeth!"

Jason suddenly remembered why he came back. Ignoring Patrick he took his wife's hand and turned her to face him. "Sam, I need to talk to you about something, and you're going to be upset but I want you to hear me out, okay?"

Her brow raised quizzically, "okay. You know you can tell me anything, Jason."

He smiled at the truth in her words. "I know." Clearing his voice he started, "we were interrupted earlier before I could finish telling you everything." He looked at the eagerness on her face as she listened. "Maybe you should sit down."

"Oh, great the bad news starts with him already! Is this what you really want Sam? A lifetime of this from this guy?"

Jason acted as though the man hadn't said a word, leading his wife over to the couch and sitting next to her as he held onto her hands. "Sam, what I didn't get to tell you earlier is that when I found out who I was, shortly afterwards I found out that somebody else knew and has known for months now but didn't say anything." He looked at her worriedly, knowing he was about to anger and infuriate her but also that there was no way he'd let her go on not knowing.

Sam was confused. "Who? Surely not anyone that we know? Nobody we know would ever keep something so vital from us, Jason."

He took a deep breath, almost feeling sorry for Elizabeth when Sam got hold of her after this. "Yes, Sam - somebody we both know very well. As a matter of fact, two people who are very close to both of us." He saw the confusion grow and squeezed her hands tightly as he said, "Elizabeth knew, Sam. She's known since the Nurse's Ball and she didn't say anything.''

Sam railed to her feet and stood looking down at Jason in shock. He stood up to face her then eased her back down on the couch. "Wait, there's more."

"More?" The question came from the doctor who had drawn closer to them and was glaring at Jason with his usual disapproval. "You want us to believe that Elizabeth, the woman who took a stranger with no memory and gave him a home and a family out of the goodness of her heart, knowingly deceived you and everyone else for months?" He scoffed, as if.

Jason glared back at him, "I don't care what the hell you believe, I'm talking to my wife!" He turned back to face a still stunned Sam as he continued, "Nicholas told her, Sam. Nicholas found out somehow and he and Elizabeth have been keeping it a secret for their own selfish reasons." The anger was creeping back up his spine as he spoke and he knew he had to control it if he was going to convince Sam to go along with the next phase of his plan, because his anger on top of hers was always explosive.

He couldn't hold her to the couch anymore. Sam sprang to her feet and stood looking down at him for a few silent seconds before she charged towards the front door. Jason reared up and grabbed hold of her, pulling her back into the living room, quickly trying to calm her before she exploded. "No, Sam, don't confront them, not yet."

"What? Like hell don't confront them, Jason! You're telling me that Elizabeth and Nicholas knew before we did who you were and said nothing, and I'm not to confront them - are you insane? Let go of me, Jason." She railed to get free but he held her steadfast.

Patrick jumped in, "wait a minute, Sam, so what if Elizabeth knew? Who cares whether she knew or how long she's known? Why does that change the fact that you can't trust him and you need to move on with the plans that we've made for our lives and the lives of our children?"

Sam was furious and she turned it on Patrick. "See, Patrick, that statement just further proves that you and I are not meant to be together! How could you wonder what difference it makes if she knew that my husband, the father of my child was alive and how long she knew? How could you not see how important and monumental Jason being alive would be for me and Danny? Anybody who knew and kept that information from him, from me, from the rest of his family who grieved and mourned him, is cruel and evil, and you asking that makes me think that if you had known you would have done the same thing! Nobody had the right to keep Jason's identity from him, _nobody_! Nobody had the right to keep it from anybody who loved him!"

She was furious and this was what Jason had feared when he told her. The doctor riling her up with his less than insightful comments was not helping Jason to keep her calm and hear his plan. "Why are you still here, Drake? Don't you have a life that needs saving somewhere? I need to talk to my wife alone."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Fine, then stand there and shut the hell up!" He turned back to face Sam, softening his voice to try and calm her down. "It's okay, Sam, because they're both going to regret what they did, I promise you, but first I need you to listen to me." She stared into his eyes and the blueness that always had a calming effect on her didn't seem to be working very well at the moment but it worked enough for her to take a deep breath and sit down on the couch. Jason followed suit.

"Please, Sam, you and I will take care of this but I need to take a quick trip for a few days and I don't want you to do anything until I return."

She was confused. "Trip, where are you going, Jason?"

"I need to find Robin, Sam."

"Robin?" The doc's question simultaneously echoed hers. "Why are you looking for Robin?" she wanted to know.

He took hold of her hand again. "I think Robin could be in trouble, Sam."

"What?" Patrick Drake couldn't get the man to pay any attention to him.

"Sam, Robin and I escaped Crichton Clarke and made it back to Port Charles the night I got hit by the car. We separated because Helena's henchmen were on our tail, so I went to Sonny's and Robin went to find Anna, only I got recaptured and when I jumped out of their car I got run over by another and ended up in the hospital with no memory. I only just found out that Robin has been missing since that very night, that nobody in town saw her that night. Then later there was some mysterious phone call to her family about moving to Paris to _find herself_. It's a load of bull - all Robin talked about on the drive to Port Charles that night is how she couldn't wait to see Emma. She knew the asshole over there had moved on without her because he was pissed that she went to save me instead of staying with him, but she was headed home to her baby, Sam." He looked her in the eyes. "Robin's in trouble, I can feel it, and I have to find her because she left her family to save my life. It's because of her that I was able to make it back to you."

Sam was up from the couch again. "Oh, my God! Is this real, Jason? Do you really think that Helena's had her all this time? Oh, my God - Robin!" Sam covered her mouth with her hands and turned to see that Patrick Drake had been rendered speechless and had taken a seat on the opposite chair, staring at Jason as if he'd grown two heads.

"Yes, I don't know exactly where she is Sam, but I'm convinced that she's not living it up in Paris - it doesn't make any sense." He got up to face her, "please, wait until I come back and we'll deal with Elizabeth and Nicholas together. Promise me that you won't do anything without me?"

"I don't know, Jason, I don't know if I can see them and not rip their hair out by the roots…I don't know if I can promise you that."

He took her hands in his again - he had the need to constantly be touching her. "Okay, okay - I tell you what. I have to catch a plane to Paris soon, but I promise I'll call you later and I'll tell you everything I have planned. I promise you that we'll deal with them Sam, but let's do it together. Promise you won't say anything and you won't do anything without me."

He could see he was getting through to her. "Okay, Jason. Go help Robin, and the minute you find her you bring her home because I don't know how long I can keep this from boiling over."

"Good enough - I'll take it. I'll call you in a couple hours, okay?" He stroked her cheek softly and gazed into her gorgeous brown eyes, before he moved to grab his bag and head back out. Sam called his name.

"Jason." She came around the couch to him, "find her, Jason. She left her family to save you for us, we can never repay her for that. You find her and bring her home to her daughter."

He nodded. "I will, I promise. Kiss Danny for me and tell him I'll see him in a few days?"

she smiled, "okay."

Just then the doctor found his voice again, "Jason, wait - I'm coming with you!" He practically sprinted to the door.

"I don't need any company."

"Either you take me with you or I follow behind. Look, if what you say is true, I've been mad at Robin for deserting Emma and me and not caring about our well being, when all the while she's being held captive, again, and we had no idea. I need to see for myself if it's all been a lie."

Jason decided not to argue with the man, afterall, if he took him along he didn't have to worry about him tipping his good friend Elizabeth off about his plans for her. "Fine, suit yourself." He winked at Sam and was gone. The sooner he found his long time friend and repaid a small portion of a priceless debt the sooner he could get back to his family and make those that hurt them pay dearly for doing so.


	10. Chapter 10

It was the hardest thing in the world for Sam to do - not killing Elizabeth Webber and Nicholas Cassadine was the meanest thing Jason could've asked of her, and she hated him for asking, especially two days after he'd left. Even after he'd called her to share his plan it was all she could do to keep her emotions and feelings in check and it really didn't help when the nurse saw her that very day. Luckily for her, she caught Sam while she had Danny with her and the daft woman had no idea how much she should've thanked Sam's little boy for saving her life.

It was a beautiful clear afternoon and Sam decided she'd take Danny to get some fresh air at the nearby park. He was enjoying the monkey bars, his mom sitting on the bench close by enjoying him, when Elizabeth showed up with her boys. Cam took the younger two to join Danny on the bars, waving to Sam as they passed her. Smiling and waving back, Sam looked from the innocent little ones over to the viper they had for a mother, who approached Sam with the broadest hyena smile on her face.

"Sam! I'm so glad to see you here, I have something for you." She practically glowed as she sat next to Sam without invitation, reaching into her purse as she did. "I've been looking for Patrick to give him your invitation but I hear he's on a leave of absence." She furrowed her brow with worry as she held an ivory envelope out to Sam, who still hadn't acknowledged her outside of staring daggers through her skull. "Weird he didn't tell me he was leaving - nothing serious happened, did it?"

Samantha Morgan felt as though she should have gotten an award for the restraint she exhibited that day. Looking at the lecherous woman and wanting to do nothing but scratch her hateful, deceitful eyes out, she turned to her slightly, putting her hands together as she rested one elbow on the back of the bench, "Actually, Elizabeth, he went with Jason to rescue Robin."

"What do you mean _rescue_ \- Robin's living in Paris - going to museums and strolling the streets of love, what does she need rescue from?" She had the decency to look a bit concerned as she furrowed her brows at the statement.

"From Helena, apparently!"

"Helena? What does she have to do with Robin?"

Sam choked back the real response she wanted to spit at her, "According to Jason and Patrick she's been holding Robin captive for months now, since the night that Jason got hit by the car, imagine that!"

Sam watched as she turned visibly pale, a look that someone who didn't know how black her heart was would've construed for real, unselfish concern. Her first question proved what Sam thought as she studied her.

"You've spoken to Jason?" Why was Jason calling this woman when he hadn't called her, not once since he left? Why was he talking to her at all?

Sam wouldn't let that one slide. She had to hold her tongue about so much, but this was not one of them.

"Did you hear what I said? Your friend has been held prisoner for months, kept away from her family, living in fear for her life every day for months - aren't you the least bit curious as to why? Don't you want to know how she's doing?" Of course not - all she cares about is keeping Jason in her clutches. Sam pictured herself in that moment just leaning forward to punch the woman in her selfish throat, her eyes moving from the nurse's face down to the intended target, wanting to so badly.

"I heard you but it's just so absurd! Patrick got the phone call and from Robin herself. She was fine, she just needed to get away."

"It was staged for his benefit. But don't worry your little head about it, she'll be home soon." Jason had called Sam earlier that day to keep her in the loop and to assure her that he was fine.

Elizabeth was truly shocked to hear about Robin, it hadn't occurred to her that she could've been in real trouble. But at least Jason found her and she'll be okay. For a split second she thought, maybe he would've remembered earlier if they'd told him the truth of who he was and he might've remembered about Robin and done something to help her if they hadn't kept the truth from him. Don't dwell on it Elizabeth, she thought. What's done is done and he found her. That meant he'd be home soon and they could get married, finally! She held the envelope out again that Sam hadn't taken the first time.

"Father Coates was gracious enough to fit us in day after tomorrow, make sure you and Patrick can make it."

Sam couldn't bring herself to take the damn thing, all she envisioned was it burning her hand like a cross to a vampire, and what she wanted to do was grab the woman and use her lifeless body to sweep the park after she finished choking her to death. She pictured herself just leaning forward to punch her in her selfish throat, her eyes moving from the nurse's face down to the intended target, wanting to so badly. If there was anything Sam hated it was playing games and being pretentious. With her what you see is what you get and there was no way she could pretend to like the woman or even fake being friendly with her.

Sam looked over to where the boys were playing and noticed they had moved on to the swings where Danny was trying to convince Cam to push him higher.

"Not too high Cam," she called out to them. "That boy is a dare devil! He gets more and more like Jason everyday."

Elizabeth didn't miss a beat, "You know, Sam, I have to say I'm shocked that you were able to get past all this and let Jason go. It couldn't have been easy for you to find out who Jake was but I'm glad you can see that you're different people now who want different things. Thank you for being mature about it."

Calm down, Sam! Calm down! She repeated her mantra silently, drawing serenity from her baby and from the woman's innocent boys who didn't need to be traumatized seeing the nurse bleeding to death. It took all her might but Sam forced herself to remain in check and listen to the drivel.

"You're with Patrick and I'm with Jason and everybody's happy - I'm glad you've accepted that nothing needs to change, for all our sakes."

"Danny, let's go sweetheart!" Sam had to get away from her, had to move that very instant because she was fighting a losing battle with her rising anger. She walked over to the swings and held her hands out, Danny leaping into them as he came in from high. She knew it was a little dangerous but it was his favorite way to exit the swings. He laughed joyously as she caught him and spun him around a couple times. They said bye to the Spencer boys and took off, Sam not giving Elizabeth another glance.

Elizabeth looked from where the boys played back to her purse, her eye catching the envelope sitting on the bench next to her. She turned her head quickly, "Sam!" She watched them exit the park and turn the corner and Elizabeth would've sworn Sam heard her, but she mustn't have since she'd kept on walking. "Oh, well, I'll just hold it for Patrick." There was another momentary ping of guilt thinking about Patrick leaving Robin to stay with Sam, but it lasted only that very brief second. They were all adults and life had taken them in different directions, and she needed Patrick to keep Sam away from Jason. Robin had Emma, she'd be fine!

The next morning Jason was back in Port Charles and ready to take his life back. He knew before he landed that he had no intention of going back to Elizabeth's house as no way in hell would he allow her anywhere near him ever again. No way would he give her more ammunition to hurt Sam in anyway, so he covertly took a suite at the MetroCourt where he set up the base of _Operation Destroy_.

Just as he'd suspected before he left, Robin was not in Paris and hadn't been since the night she left Port Charles. She was missing. After dealing with Patrick Drake's guilt-ridden tirade when they found out the direness of Robin's situation Jason called in some old favors and used some new resources to locate her in Greece, prisoner of Helena Cassadine's. Twenty-four hours and a covert operation later they were able to break her out of the compound and get her settled in a safehouse in Paris, where she was trying to decompress. She'd decided that the best therapy for her restless homesickness was time with her daughter, so after they got her situated Jason had called her mom who flew to Paris with Emma to be gleefully reunited with her mother. Anna had been distraught finding out about Robin's latest captivity - she couldn't believe they had bought the facade so completely and hadn't suspected for a minute that she was really in trouble… _again_! It filled Jason's heart to see them back together - his friend was safe again and he needed to get his life back too.

For Jason the very best thing about his suite at the MetroCourt were Sam and Danny. He had convinced Sam to stay there with him and was pleasantly surprised that she had agreed without much prodding. The penthouse was home to Alexis and Molly now and even though there was still room for Sam and Danny with them there, Jason had been thrilled when she agreed and accepted his invitation to join him.

They were ensconced in a two bedroom suite where it seemed they'd stayed holed up for twenty-four hours, just the three of them, reconnecting in a way he couldn't have thought. He had missed out on so much with his family, so much he'd never get back, like Danny's first words, his first steps, first solid food. He found out what his son's favorite toy was, his favorite movie, what he liked to eat, but the very best tiny detail he found out that night was his son's favorite bedtime story… _The Wilds Of Africa_! Sam had been reading him travel books since he was a toddler, travel books that Jason used to read to Michael and Hope, that he would've read to Danny. She had kept him alive with his son, had shown him photos and told him stories, had made sure his son knew his father loved him dearly…that he'd wanted him since before he was born. That night as Jason read a chapter on giraffes and watched his son's eyes droop as he lost the battle with sleep, his heart burst at how much he would finally get the chance to have with him.

"You missed some important firsts but you'll be here for all the others!" He turned his head from where he laid next to his sleeping son and looked at the most beautiful brunette he'd ever known, watching them from the doorway where she leant with one hand bracing against it.

Jason smiled, kissed his son lightly on the head then exited the room, pulling the door closed behind them but leaving it cracked so they could hear Danny if he woke up. "How do you still do that? After so much time apart, how do you know what I'm thinking without me even saying it?"

Sam smiled as she took a seat on the sofa and tucked one leg beneath her. "I know you!"

Jason sat next to her and brushed an errant loch from her face, "I know. You always did." They locked eyes and Jason smiled even more at the familiar increased thumping of his heart whenever Sam looked at him. He wanted her in the worst way, but the first time he made love to his wife there would be no doubt in anybody's mind where his heart laid, especially hers. He just had to get through the next day to get back to his family the way he should have months before.

That day was an unforgettable one for them all. At the end of it his entire family was on cloud nine, and Elizabeth and her prince had turned into bloated frogs.

Jason arrived at the church to wait for her. He had purposely dodged all of her calls after sending her a text to let her know he was back but would stay away to give her the traditional night before the wedding spent not seeing each other. She ate it up but tried calling him a couple times, then texting about missing him and wanting to hear his voice before the wedding. He ignored every one, he was too busy rounding up the troops for his grand wedding gift to his loving and faithful _bride to be_.

Every one was at the church that day - the Qs, the Corinthos', the Spencers, even the Commissioner of Police had been invited. Jason took his place next to his Best Person at the front of the church, Carly sending him a knowing smile as he looked around at everyone in place. His wife was sitting in the front row next to Spinelli, who had flown in to escort her when he learned what was happening. Patrick was still in Paris with his family. Monica and Tracy sat next to them, with Sonny, Michael and Morgan in the row behind them. Jason looked over to the nurse's side of the church and noticed the empty space where her grandmother had been earlier. He'd had the foresight to ask her to get the boys a treat, telling her things would be delayed so they wouldn't be missing the wedding and he'd call her when it was time to head back. As his eyes travelled the rest of the guests he surmised that she had obviously invited everyone from the hospital . Her sister flew in from California, and of course - her prince was there. The sight of the man made him instantly angry but if there was anything that Jason Morgan was good at it was masking! He put on an outward calm as he turned to face the back of the church expectantly - the bridal march just sounded.


	11. Chapter 11

Everyone stood to look towards the door as Elizabeth began her walk to her groom, the biggest smile on her face when she saw him waiting for her. She looked to the crowd that was there to celebrate them and she beamed brighter. As she passed Sam Morgan she was the happiest she'd ever been in her life. The hateful woman had to sit there and watch Elizabeth claim Jason like she always should have. Good, let her have a front row seat to my victory. The euphoria had her floating on cloud nine as she neared her goal…she was minutes away from becoming Mrs. Jason Morgan - thank you God! She beamed ten watts brighter as she reached him and they turned to Father Coates. This was it!

Jason listened as the Priest went through his dialogue, glancing every few minutes at the expectant bride. He noticed how deliriously happy she was and he remembered when that was all he'd wanted to give her. She had been his friend and had nursed him back to health and he wanted to repay her kindness and her love, so he'd wanted to marry her and give her boys his name. As he looked at her next to him he thought of all that she'd done to get them to this point. The modesty and thoughtful sweetness had all been an act. She had willingly allowed his family to continue to suffer when she could've helped them. She had smiled and encouraged him to forget about his past, to ignore his doubts and the need to know his identity, when she had all the answers. But the thing he could never forgive, the thing that bridled him the most about her treachery, was she had knowingly kept him from his son. He stared at her in her jubilation, listening as Father Coates got to the vows.

"Elizabeth, will you take Jason Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband? Will you love and cherish, honor and protect him, keep yourself only unto him, for as long as you both shall live?"

Her smile was ear to ear, "Yes, I do!" This was it - it was finally, finally happening! Jason was hers!

Father Coats asked, "Jason, will you take Elizabeth Webber to be your lawfully wedded wife? Will you love and cherish, honor and protect her, keep yourself only unto her, for as long as you both shall live?"

Jason smiled wide, holding her hands and staring deep into her greedy expectant, lying eyes, honing in on the light in them as he answered from his heart, "No." He watched as the light dimmed in confusion, the smile crashing to a glorious death. "No, I don't!"

Shock sounded all around the room and at the altar. Father Coates was taken aback, clearing his throat as he asked, "Ahem, I'm sorry? Jason, did you say _no_?"

It gave Jason immense pleasure to drop her cold hands and look over to where his wife sat stony faced as she fought the anger that wanted her to rip the woman apart right there in God's house. "I already have a wife! I already love, cherish, and honor Samantha Morgan!" He turned his head back to the open mouthed, shocked nurse as he finished, "And I will, as long as we both shall live!"

Elizabeth knew her ears had failed her. This was a joke, a very inappropriate, ill-timed joke her almost husband was playing on her. "Jason, what're you doing?" The ice in his blue eyes sent a shiver running down her spine.

"What I'm doing, Elizabeth, is making sure you understand once and for all…I don't want you! I don't want to marry you! I don't even want to know you!"

One hand flew to her throat as the other palmed her stomach as though to keep its contents in. "Jason, how can you say these things to me? What's the matter with you?"

Carly had been uncharacteristically silent and well-behaved up to that point. She moved to the woman, a slow applause leaving her hands as a cruel smile formed on her face. "Nothing's the matter with him, Elizabeth and that's the problem…for you!" She stopped with her face in the nurse's, "See, you just proved once again that you have no idea who Jason Morgan is! Once again you built yourself this elaborate fantasy world that you thought you could cram him into and he would just be your little puppet forever…well guess what sister - _AIN'T HAPPENING_!" Carly swept the room with her hands, "All these nice people get to finally see your true traitorous, faithless, deceitful colors."

Elizabeth was in a tailspin. What was happening? She should be Mrs. Jason Morgan - right this minute Father Coates should be announcing to Sam and the whole town that she'd won! What was this? She turned big dopey eyes to Jason, the coldness in his seeming to double as he stood there allowing Carly to say those terrible things to her. "Jason, please, why is she talking to me like this? Stop her from saying these things."

"She's doing quite well. It's either she says them or I will."

Her gasp was as audible as the rest of the room as she took a couple steps back from him. "You don't mean that!"

He could barely contain the anger threatening to consume him, "I **_know_** , Elizabeth! I know that for months now you've known who I am. I know that you've plotted and schemed and lied and played everyone around me all this time, including my wife and child!"

The slap of his words swung her head to look to Sam, who couldn't sit any longer. "You desperate, worthless bitch! How long did you think you could get away with this? How long did you think you would keep my son away from his father, huh?" Sam was upon her, the fierce look in her eyes and the anger in her tone causing Elizabeth to back away from her in fear as she and Carly both advanced even as the nurse backed away.

Oh, my God! They knew? They all knew! How, how did they find out? As she panicked and looked around at their faces she realized that they all set her up. The tears for once didn't have to be manufactured, they rushed to her eyes in stunned disbelief and shame. She leaped forward and grabbed his hand, "Jason, please, I was going to tell you! I wasn't going to keep it from you forever!"

He yanked his hand from her grasp, his voice as cold as his eyes, "Don't touch me! Don't ever lay your hands on me again!"

"Jason, please - I can explain!"

"Can you, Elizabeth? Go ahead - explain! Explain how you left me to rumble around in the dark for months, stumbling blindly through my own life in a town teeming with my family who were grieving and hurting over my death! Explain how you could know who I am and still plan to stand up in front of my wife and marry her husband?" He tipped his head to the side as he tried to make sense of any of it. "And then I want you to explain how you could look at my little boy and let me go on not knowing that I'm his father - _explain that to me_!"

Elizabeth couldn't think, she couldn't process what was happening. Her head was swirling as they closed in on her with their expectations and anger. Her lips quivered as her hands and eyes pleaded, "I just needed a little time to tell you, Jason. I wouldn't have kept it from you, I was going to tell you!"

" ** _WHEN_**?" He was furious. "You've had _seven months_ \- seven months where you could have done it! Seven months where you could've actually **_been_** the decent human being that you pretend to be and tell me the truth. No - you wanted to keep me away from my wife, my son, from everybody who gave a damn about me! You looked at me everyday for seven months and told me how much you love me, all the while letting my child go without his father's love - how the hell could you do that?"

Carly laughed mockingly at her, "That surprises Jason because he's a generous, beautiful spirit who always thought he saw good in you, but not me. I've always known what a selfish, thoughtless coward you really are you scheming little bitch! You always act so innocent and vulnerable, always the victim…" Her lips were sneering by this point, "But you're anything but helpless aren't you, Elizabeth?"

Monica had come up from where she sat stunned and astounded, Tracy following closely. "Elizabeth, is this true? Did you really know all this time that my son was alive and kept quiet?" Her face was contorted with the confused questions running through her mind. "Why? Why would you do such a dreadful, appalling thing?" When Jason had come by the house the day before to tell her the joyous, wonderful miraculous news he hadn't said anything about Elizabeth knowing.

Tracy didn't understand why they all seemed so surprised. "What do you mean _why_? The little twit saw her opportunity to take something that didn't belong to her and she took it! I have no idea why you all thought she was so damn upright and sweet - look at her - the bitch is drenching in desperation!"

Elizabeth's knees gave out and her body fell to the floor in a swooping heap of tulle and lace, the tears rolling out of her as she collapsed in anguished despair. No, oh dear God no, this wasn't happening. He wasn't saying these horrible things to her, the whole town didn't just find out her secret. Then she felt loving arms surround her and lift her up, placing her gently on the closest bench, and as she looked up expecting to see the forgiving blue eyes of her always knight in shining armor coming to her as he always did, she was rudely disappointed to be looking into the dark eyes of her prince, not her knight. Nicholas had rushed to her side to defend her against their derision.

"Why are you all attacking her? She didn't mean to hurt anybody - just back off, will you?" He used his hand to dry her cheeks as he gave her a gentle smile. "It's okay, Elizabeth - it's going to be okay."

"Wanna bet?" Jason was going to serve both of them all the venom they deserved. "Spinelli?" he held his hand open, palm up as Spinelli stepped forward and placed a flashdrive in it. "Commissioner, I think you'll find this interesting." He held out the tiny object in the Commissioner's direction as he glared from Elizabeth to Nicholas.

"What's this?" The Commissioner moved forward to take the drive from Jason, very curious as to its contents. This wedding had already delivered far more surprises than expected, what more could this be here?

Spinelli was happy to fill in the blanks, "Only the most elaborate and intricate trail of deceit and thievery lain out by the Dark One in an attempt to acquire and hold the very heart of the Quartermaine dynasty at all costs." He looked at the prince with barely concealed contempt.

"Don't forget _attempted murder_." Jason added in that unique, quiet, deadly Stonecold voice that never failed to chill the heart.

The prince tried to hide the shock that took him over - surely they were bluffing - they had nothing on him. His smirk was jeering, "What's this - am I supposed to be scared? Should I be shaking in my boots at whatever falsehoods you have on that thing?"

The Commissioner was more than curious, "My laptop's in the car - I need to view this," then turning to the prince, "Mr. Cassadine, please don't leave the premises until we clear this up."

Jason smirked at the man's smugness. "Laugh now Prince Dick…I promise you won't be laughing for long. You do not steal my grandfather's years of sweat and tears, hurt my family to line your greedy pockets, keep me from my son and wife, and get away with it." He didn't miss the expertly masked fear and panic behind mocking eyes as he added quietly deadly, "And don't think prison is the worst thing that will happen to you." He was gritting his teeth in controlled anger. " _I'm coming for you_!"

The entire room was abuzz with wonder and questions. Elizabeth Webber had been unexpectedly humiliated and dethroned, obviously guilty of something as heartless as keeping her fiancé's identity from him! What happened to the sinless, irreproachable angel of mercy? Then on top of that, Nicholas Cassadine was a thief and a co-conspirator? What a helluva wedding!

Sam looked at the pathetic woman still bawling her eyes out in search of sympathy and she wanted to rip her apart. Had she not been in the House of God she would have ripped her hair out and torn her limb from bony limb. "Shut the hell up you unscrupulous, conniving shrew! Nobody cares about your fake ass crocodile tears - where was your big bleeding heart when you were keeping Jason away from everyone, lying to his face and pretending to be someone you're not? You're lucky you're in a church right now!" She bent at the waist as she promised her, "But we won't be in here for long, I'll be seeing you soon, you bitch!"

Elizabeth wanted the church to open up and swallow her alive. Jason hated her, Sam and Carly wanted to beat her ass, Monica was disappointed and hurt and would probably fire her, and the whole town knew she had been desperate and pathetic enough to try to steal somebody else's husband from right under her nose…and had failed miserably. The public humiliation was stifling as she fought to breathe.

Father Coates recovered from the shock of the entire proceedings, finally able to move and attempt to bring everything back to order in the church. Clearing his throat he raised his hands to the crowd. "Everyone, it appears that we won't be having a wedding today after all, so if you could all please exit and give these good people some privacy to work this out among themselves…" he looked at the people at the altar as he added for their benefit…" _amicably_."

Jason was quick to interrupt him, "Father Coates, not yet, please." He turned to face the crowd who were moving to their feet and starting to leave the pews. "Everybody, if you could stick around for just a minute…" He turned to Sam and took her hands, bringing one to his lips, "I'm hoping we'll still have a wedding today."

The audience, stunned once again into hushed silence, sat back down, looking from one to the other of them in shared curiosity. Amy was beside herself with glee…no way was she missing any of this show.

Sam turned to Jason, surprised by his statement and stunned by the outpouring of love in his sparkling blue eyes. "Jason?"

He turned her hand over and kissed the palm, lingering as he stared in her eyes before he lowered her hand and bared his heart. "Sam, you're my wife…I knew that I wanted you to walk this life with me from the moment I realized that I loved you all those years ago. It was never a question of if we belong together, but how long we'll have together. I love you as much today as I did when we got married and I'll love you till I die. Since the day you said you'd be my wife I've had nothing but peace, joy and love for you and my children in my heart. You've always been _it_ for me, Sam. I've never wanted and needed anyone more in my life and my heart led me back home to you, because Sam… _my heart would know you anywhere_!"

He moved his thumb to wipe a tear that strayed from her eye to tumble down her cheek, pausing to palm her face before he continued, "You're the love of my life. You're the mother of my son and the other half of my soul."

"Jason, I'm also the mother of your son. You can't do this - you can't leave us!" The nurse had finally fought off the overwhelming shock that had seized her heart when she realized what was happening in front of her. "Jason, you love _me_ now, you know you do. Sam is your past, please - we can work this out! Jason, please?" She sobbed unashamedly.

Carly shoved the nurse roughly back to her bench. "Shut up you wretched, sniffling psycho! You lost! And you damn well knew you would, that's why you never wanted Jason to remember his life with Sam." She pointed a threatening finger at the nurse, "One more word out of your filthy mouth and I'll forget where I am and beat you into the ground right here!"

For Jason it was as if the woman hadn't even uttered a word. Releasing Sam's face he knelt in front of her, gripping both her hands as his eyes stayed locked with her beautiful brown orbs, "Marry me, Sam? Marry me again and make me the happiest man in the world - again. Marry me and walk through the rest of this life by my side, just like we were destined to. You're everything to me and the selfless, complete way that you love me gives me life. You're the best mother my son could ever have and I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my entire existence. Marry me - right here, right now…in front of everyone we know and love. Marry me again, Sam!"

Sam couldn't stop the tears that blinded her as she looked down on the one man who'd ever rocked her to her core and held her captive with just a touch, a kiss, the present look in his tender, sea blue eyes. She'd never been happier than when she was Jason Morgan's wife and Daniel Morgan's mother, and she wanted nothing more in life than to spend it with the two men who were her whole world. God didn't hate her - not at all. "Yes, Jason! Yes, I'll marry you!" She laughed through dripping tears and nodded vigorously as he rose to his feet and kissed her lightly on the lips. Then they both turned to a shocked Father Coates who was still standing with eyes opened wide as he tried to process the day.

"Father? Would you do the honors?" Jason looked from Father Coates to Sam then back again, "Will you honor us by renewing our vows?"

"Please, Father?" Carly was smiling wide as she turned to the Priest also, "Please help my friends?"

Everyone looked from one player to the other, riveted to know what would happen next. The day had been filled with surprises, one minute there was a wedding in progress - then it wasn't, then it was a reveal and defrocking of the town angel, and then it's a wedding again? But with a different bride? Wow. They were all so glad they came out for this one.


	12. Chapter 12

Alexis and Molly entered the church and didn't know what to think at first. They'd both gotten a mysterious text from Jason saying _Sam needs you here - bring Danny to the church now_ , so they rushed over right away. They knew it was a bad idea for Sam to attend that wedding and had tried to talk her out of going to watch her newly resurrected husband marry someone else, but she insisted on it, telling them not to worry, that everything was going to turn out the way it was supposed to. Now here they were to the rescue, curious as to what could have happened.

The scene when the doors opened was nothing they could decipher without standing there for a few minutes. The bride was in tears and visibly distressed, the groom was holding onto Sam and talking to Father Coates, the bridal party was in disarray at the altar and half of the guests were on their feet, all eyes riveted to the front of the church. Weddings in Port Charles could be quite eventful but this one wasn't expected to be. This was mild mannered Elizabeth Webber marrying an amnesiac Jason Morgan before friends and family, so why was everything completely chaotic?

It wasn't until Alexis started moving into the room, having told Molly to wait at the back with Danny, that she heard part of the unbelievable exchange that had obviously shocked the rest into silence.

"Sam, this is distasteful, even for you. How can you be so cold to marry Elizabeth's fiancé in front of her? You two are completely heartless!" The Prince was righteous in his disapproval.

"Your friend was scheming to marry my **_husband_** in front of me and you want to speak to us about being heartless?" Sam let go of Jason's hand and moved to her cousin. "You're supposed to be my family, Nicholas, and you kept the news that my husband wasn't dead from me for months - for _money_! You kept my son from knowing his father when you know the sacred love of your own - how is that not heartless? You allowed Elizabeth to sink her claws into Jason knowing that he had a family, you both said _nothing_ even though you knew how it was killing him to not be able to remember anything about his life, and you call _us_ names? Who do you think you are?"

"You and Danny were better off without him - you should be thanking us!"

Sam couldn't stop her hand from flaring out on its own accord and slamming into his jaw.

Father Coates sprang forward with his hands out pleadingly, "Sam, please…contain yourself in the House of the Lord."

The prince rubbed his jaw and smiled smugly, "It's quite alright, Father. Sam and I are family, she will soon see that everything I did was to protect her and Danny." He turned away from a boiling Sam to see Alexis walking up slowly. "Alexis, I'm glad you're here - I think I may need my lawyer."

The words had barely left his mouth before his face was stinging from a left-handed slap as Alexis wailed him one.

"Dammit! What's the deal with the women in this family and hitting?" He looked at his aunt, appearing almost hurt, "Was that really necessary?"

"How could you do this to my daughter and grandson! She is your _cousin_ for crying out loud! What has happened to you, Nicholas?"

"How many times do I have to say this? They were better off without that thug endangering their lives. One day she will thank me - just watch!"

"Nicholas Cassadine, you are under arrest for Corporate Espionage and the attempted murder of Hayden Barnes." The Commissioner had returned and was motioning to one of the uniformed officers bringing up the rear to put cuffs on the prince. "You have the right to remain silent as anything that you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to an Attorney…"

"My Attorney is right here - Alexis, stop this from happening."

"You're going to need a new lawyer, nephew. I wouldn't lift a finger to help you now if you were on fire." She turned her back on him and went to her daughter, pulling her into her outstretched arms. "My baby, are you okay?"

The Davis women hugged it out, not giving a second thought to the man as he was led out of the church in cuffs. He was on his own.

Elizabeth was beside herself. Would this day from hell never end? She was supposed to be happy, running off to her honeymoon with her new husband…how had it all slipped out of her hands so quickly?

Jason addressed the Commissioner who had turned to follow the officer out. "Commissioner, you forgot one." He stopped in front of Elizabeth and she knew from the look on his face that he wasn't done. She knew her day was about to get even worse than it already had. "Nurse Webber knew all about the attempt on Hayden's life…" Jason was guessing - he had no way of knowing for sure since Spinelli's search hadn't found anything to implicate her, but he just knew. She was too edgy, something about her reaction to the arrest gave her away. She didn't seem the least bit surprised at the news of the charges against Nicholas, which set Jason's spidey senses blaring when he remembered seeing them in hushed, urgent conversation. "…Don't you, Elizabeth?" The way she squirmed confirmed it for him. "You do know that makes you an accessory after the fact - I mean you were married to a Detective and all - surely you know that you are culpable for the theft of ELQ as well as the senseless attempt on the life of an innocent woman?"

"By the time I found out it was already in motion. Jason, you have to believe me - I had nothing to do with it! I told him he'd gone too far - you can't blame me for what he did!"

Another uniformed officer stepped forward with cuffs out, "Elizabeth Webber you are under arrest for the att…"

He didn't even get to finish. Elizabeth had fainted clear away. When she came to she was in the back of a police car with her hands cuffed behind her princess wedding dress.

Back at the church Jason and Sam were exchanging I dos surrounded by family and friends and curious onlookers who had never attended a more eventful wedding… _and several of them had been to a couple of Sonny's!_ Nurse Amy couldn't wait for someone to ask her later what she did today!

Father Coates faced the faithful couple as they prepared to recommit themselves before family and friends and a few strangers who came for Elizabeth but just had to stick around to see the romantic story play out. _Lovers reunited by the pull of their hearts after one was thought dead for years and who was about to marry another because he had amnesia and forgot his entire life but at the last minute remembered everything and returned to his love!_ That's the stuff that _forever_ was built on!

Jason had chucked the jacket and tie and Sam thought he couldn't look more handsome standing there in his white dress shirt and dark slacks, the ease settling his face into a lazy grin aimed at her, with their little boy between them in his arms. Sam's heart stopped at the love evident in his eyes as he looked from her to Danny then back at her. She loved this man so much! The way he loved her was incomparable and if she lived to be a hundred she'd never feel like this again. She took a deep steadying breath trying to calm her racing heart as Father Coates said the words she'd waited with bated breath to hear.

"Jason and Sam have come before us in the presence of God to renew the vows made to each other to live in the sanctity of marriage." He turned to address the beaming brunette, "Samantha Morgan, do you take Jason Morgan to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others and keeping yourself only unto him in good times and in bad, for as long as you both shall live?"

Sam smiled through delighted tears that brimmed her eyes as she looked at the men she loved in front of her and her heart overflowed with the love she felt for them both. Her dream was standing just inches from her, right there for her hands to reach out and touch. "Yes, I do!"

Father Coates looked to Jason who was looking at his wife, "Jason Morgan, do you take Samantha Morgan to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others and keeping yourself only unto her in good times and in bad, for as long as you both shall live?"

Jason's heart was full to overflowing as he gazed into the brown orbs that reflected his soul and answered from its very depths, "Oh, yes! Yes, YES, I do!"

Father Coates smiled at the jubilation and open adoration before him as he asked, "Are there rings?"

Sam started to answer no when Jason looked to the front and Molly stepped forward to hand something to Carly.

"Oops, almost forgot," she said smiling brightly at the reunited lovers who had always put every couple in her romance novels to shame. This was destiny fulfilled and she was so happy to do her part when Jason had asked her to bring them with her.

Carly looked at the bands in her hands, smiled knowingly and handed them to the Priest who placed the rings in the bible to be blessed.

Sam was surprised that they had rings, that meant that Jason had planned this! She looked down at the bible and gasped to see two very familiar bands. "Jason, these are our rings! How?"

She looked up at him to see the smirk-smile that she loved so much directed at her. "I asked Molly to get them for me. I knew I wanted to do this today and I was praying that you'd say yes - thank you, baby!"

She practically sputtered when she said, "Jason Morgan, you are _thee_ most romantic man I've ever known in my entire life." She was beaming again as Father Coates picked the ceremony back up.

"These never-ending circles are a symbol of the love and commitment you have each chosen to make to the other, and as they go on forever with no end, so shall your union before God. Let them serve as a reminder that from this day forth you walk this life with the partner chosen by God to share all hopes and dreams, all fears and upheaval, and an undying love to sustain you for all eternity. May your love stay as strong and unrelenting as the metal that binds these circles and keep you holy in the eyes of the Lord." He held out the bible to the couple, "Jason, place the ring on Samantha's finger."

Danny reached out and took both rings from the bible, erupting everyone into laughter, then studied them closely as they rolled between his tiny fingers. Jason grinned at his son, "Hey buddy, can you give Momma her ring for me?" The tyke smiled and nodded then placed the simple diamond circle on his mother's outstretched finger as Sam used one hand to hold the other up for him. Jason held Danny in his right arm as his left hand reached for Sam's newly ringed one.

"Sam, with this ring, I thee gladly wed again! You've given me all that is good in my life and loving you made it richer than I could've dreamed of. We have this little guy here because of how much you've always believed in us, how much you've always fought for us! Before God and everyone here, I promise to love you for as long as we live, to never take us for granted, and to never leave your side." He raised a delicate hand to his lips and kissed the ring where it glistened in place, all the while locking eyes with his beautiful wife. "I love you forever!"

Laughing through her tears Sam took Jason's band that Danny handed her when the Priest instructed to place it upon his finger.

"Jason, with this ring I thee gladly wed again! I lost the biggest part of my heart when I thought I had lost you and I never thought I'd ever be this happy, this complete, ever again. You've given me the one thing I thought I would never have…selfless love and a little miracle all our own. You're my best friend and I promise to love and honor you for as long as we live. Thank you for coming home to me."

They stared at each other adoringly as Danny played with his father's collar and every woman in the church dabbed at her eyes, listening as Father Coates finished his blessing.

"Then what God has joined together, let no man put asunder. I now pronounce you man and wife…again! Jason, you can take it from here!"

The room erupted into cheers and applause as Jason, still holding Danny in his right arm, reached his left to grab hold of his wife and pull her to him as his lips descended on hers. With Danny between them he kept it PG by allowing himself to lock hers smoothly, his tongue only playing with the outside of them for a quick second, relaying sweet promises of what was to come then releasing to press a quick peck to the lips he wanted to kiss forever.


	13. Chapter 13

Jason opened the door to their suite at the MetroCourt then turned back to swoop an unexpectant Sam into his arms to sweep her over the threshold and inside the door. She laughed joyously in her husband's arms just before he locked lips with her as his foot kicked back to slam the door shut. His tongue moved across them as he slid her down the length of his body to back her up against the door, locking her in place as he used one hand to lift her leg up to his thigh, the other hand grabbing her neck to bring her mouth even more into his. His tongue was sweet and unrelenting as it pushed inside parted lips to dance alongside her own, robbing her breath with the intensity of the kiss as her husband inhaled sharply and ground against her on the door.

A lifetime of seconds later he lifted his head to part their lips and give them air, resting his forehead to hers as he whispered, "I know this isn't our home but I want to start building memories with you again right now, right this very second. This is our first kiss in our home as husband wife again." He didn't wait for a reply, merely swooped down again to pull her full lips into his mouth as he devoured them with the strong sweep of his own.

Sam was in heaven. His lips and his hands on her body had transported her to somewhere above the clouds. "I want you, Jason!" She'd wanted him since the very first night he came to her at the penthouse and showed her his scars…and now he was her husband again. Their renewed commitment and vows of love only served to strengthen the power of the urges she felt for him in that moment. "Take me, Jason…anyway you like."

Her words had him in a frenzy. He'd never wanted anyone as much as he wanted her - her hard, toned body yielding soft in all the right places, curves that welcomed the stroke of his hands as he grabbed both luscious breasts through her sexy blue dress, kneading up and around as his tongue lashed hers for dominance. He sucked her tongue into his mouth and the suction created from taking all and pulling for more of her essence made him lightheaded as one hand moved from a glorious breast down to palm a firm ass cheek and pull her into him. "I want you too, baby! So fucking much!"

Jason pulled himself off her so he could sweep her up in his arms and take her to the bedroom. He'd make love to her tonight until she screamed his name over and over again. He stopped at the closed bedroom door and Sam reached out to turn the knob and fling it open, both gaping in wonder at the beautiful sight before them. Jason walked in and let Sam out of his arms when she moved her foot to step down.

"Jason, this is beautiful." Her voice cracked with the emotions that overwhelmed her senses. "Did you do this?"

The room was bathed in soft light from shimmering candles everywhere, petals from white lilies scattered on the floor and the bed. More white lilies filled vases around the room and the soft sounds of Jason Belt strummed from the nightstand player. There was a bottle of champagne chilling on the opposite table and as Sam turned back to look at her husband, her eyes brimming with unshed tears and happiness, she was greeted with that smirk-smile that belonged to only her.

Jason couldn't take credit for the room - it was the one thing he hadn't thought of tonight but when he saw how it delighted her he wished that he had. Note to self, he thought…romance my wife more this time around. "Must be Carly," he said as he pulled her into his arms again and bent his head to kiss her neck, "remind me to thank her. Anything that makes you smile like that is gold for me."

His lips on her neck sent tingles to other places and she wanted to be naked under him. Her hands spanned his chest and arms, the feel of rigid muscles fanning the flames already building in her belly. Coming round to unbutton his dress shirt as his mouth moved hotly from her neck up towards her earlobe, his tongue washing over it to glide back down to the soft spot just below, Sam couldn't get rid of the damn things between them fast enough. Grunting her frustration she ripped the shirt open and shucked it from his body, barely noticing the sound of buttons flying everywhere. She watched as the shirt gave room for her eyes to take in toned muscles - chest, abs, arms - her husband was a delicious specimen of a man and she ate up the sight of him as he just as eagerly ripped at the dress that clad her from him.

Sam turned in his arms to give him access to the dress-length zipper, tipping her head as he slid it down her back before pushing the sexy blue away from her body, his hands creating a trail of fiery blazes where he guided it from her. Moaning softly with building need, Sam leaned back into his strong chest as his hands came around to grasp her breasts again, palming them firmly as he continued to worship her neck with open, wet kisses. Reaching an hand behind her, she palmed the bulge at her lower back and caressed him through his trousers, earning her a wild groan from her husband as he spun her around to claim her lips in a hot, torrid kiss, grabbing her ass as he hoisted her up and Sam locked her legs around his waist. She slid up higher on him as she crushed his lips with her own, tightening her arms around his neck as he moved them to the bed.

Jason laid her down, their lips still locked as he drank her in, pressing his body into hers as she ground against him with her legs still wrapped tightly in place. He groaned when her mound moved against him, making him even harder for her and aching to be inside her. "Take them off, Jason, please?" Her throaty, raspy request heightened his desire to push inside of her, sending him up off the bed to rid himself of the rest of the offending clothing before rejoining the luscious creature before him. As he knelt on the bed to head back to her she lowered one hand to touch herself through her lacy black panties while the other grasped and rubbed at her breast. He noticed the way her raven tresses splayed across the pillow as she lifted her hips from the bed and writhed invitingly against her hand as she looked seductively at his body hovering over her.

"God, you're beautiful." He replaced her hands with his own, rubbing her through the panties just before he ripped them from her body in one fluid movement, using one finger to toy with her nether lips as he sank his head to bite a nipple through her bra, then latching on to her breast as his hand snaked beneath her body to roll her over ontop of him. As he unclasped her bra and freed her beautiful, full globes, Sam ground against him again and moaned, enticing her husband to latch onto a naked breast, sucking it into his mouth as he moved one hand to grasp a tight asscheek and slap it lightly before grabbing hold again and guiding her to grind against him. Soon that same hand was moving around to part her folds and slide between the lips in seek of her jewel. His fingers were instantly coated with her juices as he slid inside her, moving to the writhing of her body. "You're wet for me baby, so fucking wet."

Jason withdrew his fingers and brought them to his lips, locking eyes with his soulmate as he cleaned her juices from them, pushing his lips against hers so she could taste herself as he licked her juices hungrily. "I missed how good you taste, baby. Missed it so much!" He locked his lips on hers with his fingers still between them, then spun them again so she was on the bed on her side facing him. He had to be inside her now. Sam felt his taut, throbbing organ against her leg and she needed him inside her. Reaching one hand down between them she stroked him as she moved her hips closer and guided him to her entrance.

Jason reached down and took over from her, thrusting his hips forward so the thick, wet head of his pulsing member could peek through the door to her inner sanctum. Sam moaned at the sweet contact, a sound that caused Jason to lose his hold on his control and ram right into her, all the way to the base of him. Sam cried out in pleasure-pain as Jason used his hand to guide one leg up to his hips, holding her there as he stared deep into her eyes and stilled, giving her the moment she needed to adjust to his size. Still adoring her eyes, he moved to pull back slightly then thrust back in all the way, turning his hips tantalizingly slow as he went.

Pleasure consumed as he worked inside her slowly, urging her hips in a sinful dance of mesmerizing circles that met each delightful thrust into her pulsing heat. Jason bent his head and captured a nipple, stroking it with his tongue before flattening and pulling her sweet breast into his hot mouth. As he sucked and bathed her breast, his hips were drumming a sweet slow dance with her own. He moved from one over to the next, giving it equally slow, wet attention before sliding a flattened tongue over her collar bone and up along her long, sexy neck. He moved in and out of her glorious walls slowly and as they gripped him tight and welcomed him home, he groaned against her tasty throat, "You feel so good, Sam. I love you baby. I missed you so much!"

Sam was crying as the love of her life gave her renewed life. Her hands locked in his hair as she moved to meet his delicious thrusts and her mouth sought his to lock his tongue with her own. She kissed him hungrily as she felt the tears roll down her cheeks, a salty taste coating her tongue as one slipped through with her gasp for air. "I love you too, Jason. Thank you for coming home to me." She reached hungrily for his lips again as his hand gripped her leg harder and pulled her even closer as their bodies rejoiced in glorious song.

Soon the pace was increasing as they both felt the inferno rise up from the flames inside of them, holding each other tightly as their love was reunited in the strongest emotions they'd ever known. "Harder, Jason, please…I need you so much!" She whimpered against his shoulder as her lips slid down across his neck to rest themselves there. The sweet buildup in her belly had her grinding her pelvis hard against his, causing a friction on her clit that set off fireworks behind her closed eyelids. "Mmmmm…yes, Jason, yes! Baby I'm cum…ahhhhhhh." The fireworks exploded everywhere and her belly was ablaze as the dam burst open within her sent her crashing through the clouds. Jason crushed his lips down on hers and rammed his tongue inside her whimpering mouth as he guided her down from the mountain top, his thrusts getting furious as he felt her clamp down on his hard rod and her juices burst open around him. With another hard thrust he felt his own release crash through his body to send him spiraling over the edge and crying out her name against her lips, "Sam…! Hhhhm!"

They laid there in each others arms as they descended their high, sweaty, satisfied bodies clinging together as they refused to let each other an inch away from the other. Jason bent his head and laid an open mouth kiss to a perky breast. "That's even better than I remember and what I remember was pretty damn phenomenal to begin with." He moved his head to look down into her upturned face, "I missed you so much." Bending his head to claim her softly, he licked her bottom lip with is tongue then drew it into his mouth, licking again before pecking and lifting his head to look into her beautiful brown eyes. "Don't cry, baby." He bent his head and kissed her again, "please don't cry."

Sam sniffled and buried her head into his chest. "I can't help it, Jason. I never thought I'd have this again. I never expected to hold you like this ever again. I love you soooo much!" She kissed his chest where her tears were creating a damp pool and tried to wipe her eyes. "I'm just so grateful to have you back."

Jason stroked her hair and kissed her head softly, lingering as he took a deep breath to stave off his own tears that threatened to fall. "I feel the same way, baby. I'll never leave you again, I promise."

Sam shook her head against his chest. "You know you can't promise that, Jason. Nobody can."

He kissed her head again. "I know, but not even death was able to keep me from you, Sam - don't you see that? I will always, always find a way to come back to you. Always!" Using a finger at her chin, he lifted her head so he could see her eyes and make her look into his, then he used his thumb to dry her tears. "I was as good as dead Sam, but I knew I had to fight to come back to you and Danny. I wasn't ready to leave you and I will always fight to be with you. If I have to fight the whole damn world and death himself, I will always fight to come back to you."

Unable to stop the sobs Sam claimed his mouth with hers and cried as she kissed her husband. He was back in her arms and for however long that was she would not waste a single moment with him ever again. Their kisses turned hot and soon they were joined as one as they ground and thrust and loved each other on through the night, Sam smiling every time she thought of their helluva second wedding, Jason succeeding in making it one helluva second wedding night.


	14. Chapter 14

The next morning Sam woke up and stretched languidly, her hand falling on something hard and inviting. Smiling to herself she turned over and hugged her husband's back, throwing a leg over toned cheeks as she kissed the spot where her head landed and ran her hand over magnificent muscles. Her body ached in places that hadn't been reached in years but it was a dull, glorious ache that she welcomed gladly. Hugging his back snugly to her bare chest, Sam kissed it again…she'd missed waking up to him so, so much.

"Good morning Mrs. Morgan!" His voice laden with sleep, Jason smiled contentedly, memories of a sensational, passion-filled wedding night flooding his mind, the soft kisses of his vixen burning where her lips now grazed as he proudly voiced the name to the one woman who had the right to wear it. He was a happy man.

"Mmmhm…that it is, Mr. Morgan." She kissed his back again before he turned over to pull her into his arms, licking her lips softly in greeting as she stretched the full length of her body over his, sliding up against an already hard shaft against her stomach.

Using both hands to grab and squeeze her derriere in response, Jason drew her lips into a passionate kiss, his tongue instantly demanding and gaining entrance to her yearning, seeking mouth, coaxing her hips upward as his shaft found its sheath at her entrance. Reluctantly pulling away from his sublime lips and sinful tongue, Sam moved into a sitting position as she took in more of him, slowly lifting up and down with guidance from his very skillful hands on her hips.

Jason could feel her tight passage grip his rigid member, clasping him tighter as she rotated her hips at the base each time she came down and with her hands braced against his iron chest, Sam balanced herself as she rode him, throwing her head back at the amazing feel of his throbbing hardness impaling her.

Watching as she went up and down, her thrilling breasts bouncing heavily along with her, he couldn't stop from lifting his torso so he could grab a hard, pouty pink nipple between his teeth, using his tongue to tease as she rode him. "Hhhhm!" The feel of her was surreal, from her grip on his steely member to his hold on her hips, to the taste of her mouthwatering breast…he couldn't get enough of his luscious wife.

His wife! She was his again! His heart had led him back to its one true home and they'd made it official in front of the world, and now there was no longer any doubt as to who this magnificent woman whom he loved so much was to him. Succumbing to his primal need to claim her, Jason sucked harder on her tantalizing breast, purposely leaving a red mark as he moved up her neck to that special spot just below her ear, all the while guiding her hard and fast down on him, branding her womanhood as only he could. She hugged him like a glove as rippling sensations blazed his senses and coursed his veins.

"Mmmmmm…" Sam felt like she was floating from the bed though still wrapped around her husband, her head doing a complete one-eighty right before he lifted her hands to intertwine their fingers, pulling her forward as he laid back down and stretched their arms above his head so her breasts would fall right in his face when she collapsed against him. She screamed when he reclaimed a nipple with his mouth and raised his legs to plant his feet flat on the mattress, meeting her rotating hips up and down on his unyielding shaft. The intoxicating sensations from his mouth and his punishing rod made her delirious, and before long her walls were tightening around him as she careened to the edge, gripping him in a vice.

"Oh Gawwd!" Sam cried and purred and moaned all at the same time as the sensation of her hips against his thrusting motion elicited a wild reaction from Jason that had him pounding sinfully against her mound.

"You're mine! Say it, Sam…tell me you only cum for me!" His possessive demand was urgent as his heart ached for the only answer that would soothe its yearning.

"Gaawwd yes, Jason yes! I'm yours! I'm all yours…awwwhhhh - ahh, Jaaaason!" She screamed uninhibitedly as she came with the force of a battering ram, her walls tightening and clutching desperately to the length of him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge to follow her over.

"Fuck, Sam! Fuuuuck!" A kaleidoscope burst upon his senses and his orgasm tore through like a thundering bison, rendering him immobile in surrender and locking his muscles in place as his brain was stormed with ecstasy, sending his warm juices spurting deep within her.

They held on tightly as they came down from high, each kissing the sweat glistened shoulder of the other softly…lovingly.

"I think we may have just given Danny a sister."

His soft words brought to Sam her early fantasy of their lives together where they had a little boy and a little girl to complete their intimate circle of love. She smiled at his comment, silently hoping it to be true, however unlikely. Nothing would please her more than to share another miniature, or ten, with the man she loved. She kissed his shoulder again in sated bliss, "From your mouth…"

Flipping her in his arms so she landed on the bed beneath him, he pressed himself to her sexy body, her skin feeling supple and sublime, causing him to smile that tiny little smirk that like he, was hers and hers alone, "We should do it again…just to make sure!"

It was mid afternoon before they stumbled out of bed, grudgingly facing the world when room service showed up for the second time that day, the first fervently ignored as they remained in their intimate bubble and barely registered the midmorning breakfast knock and announcement for Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, no doubt sent up by Carly. It was only the grumbling of their protesting stomachs which prodded them now to abandon the ardent task of relearning and reacquainting each with the other's body, a task which they were eager to get back to once nourishment was sought. The rhythm they had fallen back into was easy and relaxed, as though they had never spent a moment away from the pleasure of the ecstasy that always lived between them.

As they fed each other fruit and a chunky chicken salad champagne lunch on the floor where they laid out their bridal picnic near the terrace doors to watch the cleansing rain that beat the exterior, Jason thought of their first honeymoon. The cruel, tragic way in which it ended was something he needed to change for her…he had to give her better, untarnished memories to replace the horrid pain.

Feeding her a grape he looked at her sweet, happy face and it filled his heart again that she was his…heart, body and soul she had pledged to be his for eternity, and he would spend every single day honoring the rare and priceless gem that was Samantha Morgan. She knew him, really knew him…and yet she loved him still. He'd hurt her, placed others' needs ahead of hers time and again…and yet she'd always forgiven his stupid, blind eye. She loved him still…had fought for him against countless, outweighing odds. "I want to take you away - where do you want to see?"

She smiled as the happiness in her heart kept brimming over uncontrollably every time she looked at her husband. He was home…he was hers…he was here!

"I'd go anywhere with you!" She thought about it for a second then added, "Hawaii."

Jason lowered his eyes as he reached for another handful of grapes, the turmoil that followed the memory of her ordeal on their last trip to Hawaii never far from him. Not lifting his eyes he asked quietly, "Are you sure? Maybe we should go somewhere else."

Reaching her hand out to take hold of his that laid idly between them, Sam raised it to her lips and rested against slender fingers that knew every inch of her body and played every nerve ending so very well. She eyed the troubled expression that marred his handsome, gentle face and knew where his thoughts laid.

"Look at me." Her command was soft but insistent, and as his eyes met hers he felt his heart race at the love he saw there as she continued, "Hawaii was our place long before it was tainted for us. We built so many great memories there that I will never allow _him_ or anyone else to ever ruin it, so I want us to take it back! I don't want to ever give him that power over us, not ever!" She kissed his fingers again, "Let's take our place back baby…right now!"

His heart lunged with ache for her - the humongous, prideful, lustful, admirable ache for the one woman who held its key within the confines of her own. His head shook in wonder as he studied her closely.

"How are you always so strong?" He stroked her cheek as the rain battered the window with pounding pellets. "You're the tiniest little thing yet nothing ever breaks my Phoenix - no matter what or who tries!"

He marveled at the way she lived and he loved the way she loved him. His life had been surrounded by danger and trouble seemingly at every corner, but she had never abandoned him. She'd made him a promise to love him through everything and she had more than kept that promise. Nothing had scared her away from loving him, even though some of the worse things one could think of had befallen her because of whom she was to him…she loved him through all of it.

Finally nodding his agreement, he knew he would always give her anything she wanted and if she wanted to take their power back he would gladly hand it and the bastard's head over to her.

"Okay," he acceded. "We'll go to Maui and make it ours again, just like we did before." Drawing back the hand still held in hers to his lips and reaching down to kiss her fingers as his eyes roamed her beautiful face, he made her a promise, "…We'll make it even better than before!"

Her smile shone brightly through the rainy day when she agreed, "…Better than before!"

The rest of the lazy, wet afternoon and night was spent back in bed, very much reflective of the weather outside…wet, dripping, and ongoing.

Two days later they had packed up their little boy and flown across the world to their secluded Hawaiian getaway, renting a tiny cottage reminiscent of the one they'd had before to lose themselves in their joyous little family. For Sam, experiencing one of their favorite places and adventures with their baby was emotional and life affirming, and she reveled in carefree days spent combing the shores and watching for rainbows.

Danny raced to find the end of the rainbow every time he saw one, in search of the fabled leprechaun with a pot of gold from his bedtime story that grandma read. He would walk until his little feet got tired or the rainbow disappeared and Jason would hoist him to his shoulders and run along the shore or off into the waves, with him squealing like the happy little boy he was. They paddle boarded and soaked up the rays by day and watched the stars at night, building bonfires on the beach and roasting pork chunks and pineapples by moonlight. Danny and his father lapped through pages of the Hawaiian travel book together, learning everything there was to know about their new home away from home. His curious little mind drank up every detail about the island they were on and he marveled at how far from Port Charles it was.

Their favorite week was the one that included touring the bamboo forest and the waterfalls in Haleakala, and driving the very scenic road to Hana on the northeastern shore of Maui. Sam looked next to her in the open jeep to see Danny, securely fastened in his seatbelt, throw his hands in the air and laughing as the wind zipped through them as they drove.

"Momma, look…" He pointed towards the dazzling sun overhead as it shimmered in the cloudless sky, "Put your hands up like this…it's fuuun!"

Jason eyed them in the rearview and chuckled to see his wife imitate their son, both yelling their glee into the calm afternoon, like they were on an imaginary ferris wheel, and it thrilled him as he cautiously transported the most precious cargo he'd ever had.

The night before they returned home they lounged on the lanai, their baby worn out and asleep between them, no doubt dreaming of sand and surf and pineapple patches as far as the eye could see. He'd loved every minute of their trip, right down to picking his own pineapples on their visit to a local grove.

"Are you happy?" Jason watched his beautiful wife as she watched their sleeping baby, and he'd never been more fulfilled in his life.

Sam smiled at her husband as she shook her head in wonder, resting back against the chaise where she laid and smoothed her son's golden lochs. "I'm so happy I could burst, Jason!" Then she busted out laughing, "Which can't be good. Every time this happens to us we get hit by a typhoon - I can't wait to see what it will be this time, but given how over the moon I am right now, I know it's gonna be a doozy!"

"Don't say that! I'll never let anything touch us again, Sam. We finally have everything we've ever wanted and I'll be damned if I let anybody come between us." He reached across his son to stroke her soft cheek, then rested a strong hand atop hers that lovingly stroked their son's hair, translating silent strength, as his gaze fell on his little boy's peaceful face. "You're my heart…I'll never let anybody hurt you again!"

Bending slightly, Jason kissed the top of his son's head before moving over to brush his wife's lips, his own sealing his promise with all the devotion of a man in love with his family, all that he held dear. Sam knew from the heavenly feel of his soft caress that he would die before he'd let anything touch them and the rhythmic sync of her heart with his signaled fully the world would be well advised to keep out of their way.

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End file.
